Override Fate: Cause and Effect
by TheWizardofOzbourne
Summary: Crossover with Firefly & Sequel to Override Fate. After being thrown hundreds of years into the future, John and Cameron fight their way across the 'verse to find their daughter and the T-1000. Along the way they find just how much everything has changed, and how much stayed the same. CH7: Sol finds Serenity, and loved ones are reunited, but will everything go smoothly?
1. Where Am I?

**A/N: Well, here we go.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1 : Where Am I?**

**Unknown date, Unknown time, Sierra Nevada Mountain Range **

John Connor, future leader of the Resistance, couldn't believe what was happening. He had little time for thought after the lightning bolt hit the HK before he was surrounded by the plasma beams. He knew he what was about to happen, but he didn't have time to chide himself over not having John Henry disable the machine before he was enveloped the bright white light.

When he came through it was daytime so he shut his eyes to keep the painful light from hitting his irises. Lucky for him the helmet adjusted for lighting change in seconds by dimming the special visor. John opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the tears while trying to think of a way out of his sticky situation. He may have been displaced through time, but he was still strapped to the plummeting HK.

Suddenly the HUD reactivated and John remembered that the HK had an automatic system recovery for situations like his.

Lucky for him it's reboot time was 5 seconds.

John let out a whoop of joy as the engines restarted and he took control. He slowed the descent and was able to avoid an appointment with Mother Earth. He hovered the drone about ten feet off the ground and tried to figure out when he was exactly. He tried accessing the time circuits only to find out they were burnt out by the overload. The smoking emitters clearly indicated to him that he wouldn't be doing anymore time traveling for quite awhile.

He didn't know when he was, but it appeared to be the same where, so he decided to go back to familiar territory to gauge just when he arrived at.

Ten minutes at high speed led him to Crystal Peak and he set down outside the rusted metal doors. The concrete runway was gone but the mountain had plenty of weathered impact craters from the missiles.

"How far ahead did I travel"? He said with disbelief in his voice when the state of the doors. He could see the been replaced with heavier steel, but even they looked ancient.

He realized there would be no getting those doors open so he took the plasma rifle off his back and checked it. It was still in perfect working order so he flipped off the customized safety and blew a hole in the door big enough to fit the HK through. He put back on the helmet and guided the damaged HK through the hole and onto the concrete floor.

He looked around and saw that the whole room was empty, but the ceiling was fixed and new supports were in place. He walked farther in and suddenly the lights by the blast door lit up, well some of them did. The control panel lit up, but as he got closer he realized it wasn't the same one as before. A beam suddenly jumped out of a small dome above the panel and scanned him up and down his body. The beam shut off and the screen changed from a pale blue to a bright green with white words that said 'ACCESS GRANTED'.

The blast door creaked heavily before it opened slowly and noisily.

Apparently it needed oiled.

John chuckled a little at his joke as he strolled down the familiar hall towards the elevator. When he got there it had obviously been replaced with something...futuristic?

He put his hand on the pad and it scanned it, the pad turned green and the doors slid open, revealing a white interior that looked as clean as the day it was made.

He got in and pressed the down button, the machine promptly obeyed and took him down into the bunker. He emerged from it and walked out into the dark corridor. The LED strip lighting turned on promptly, bathing the hall in a white glow. As he walked down the hall he realized that all of the passages had been blocked off with concrete, leaving only one way to go.

John Connor kept on walking down the hall until it came to a heavy door, and if he remembered correctly, this should lead to the Terminator research lab.

This time he was subjected to a battery of tests, including the full body scan, hand print, voice recognition, and a simple question.

"Who is you mother"? The mechanical voice called out.

"Sarah Connor". He said, wondering who went to all this trouble.

The doors unlocked with a loud clank and opened to reveal a big room, one bigger than he remembered. Lights slowly came on around the room while John began to scan the surroundings. He noticed pretty quickly the walls of the room were lined with statues forged out of metal, possibly stainless steel.

He looked at the one closest to him and squinted at the name. The name was engraved in the pedestal along with a short synopsis and the cause of death at the bottom.

'James Ellison, 1969-2021'... 'Died of a heart attack'

He realized that he had walked in on a memorial, of the people he once knew. He continued to the next statue, his jaw hanging the whole time.

'Martin Bedell, 1987-2011'... Died in a raid on a Skynet HK facility.

"_So much for no fate, he died long before he was supposed to"_

'Alicia Bedell, 1989-2010'... 'Died during battle of Cheyenne Mountain '

"_No...not her too"._

'Lauren Fields, 1991-2069'... 'Died of heart failure'

"_At least she got to live a long time"_

'Sydney Fields, 2008-2080'... 'Died during outbreak of the Super Virus'

"_72 years, never really got to know her though"_

'Savannah Weaver, 2001-2029'... 'Died in a plane crash'

"_Not everyone gets a happy ending, at least she didn't die at the hands of the machines"_

'Amanda Evans, 1984-2009'... 'Died in childbirth'

"_That's... just not fair"._ Life rarely was._  
_

'Josh Evans, 1984-2009'... 'Died in raid on Skynet T-1 facility'

The lump in John's throat grew as the list of those who died fighting Skynet lengthened.

'Allison Young, 2008-2027:2009-2040' 'Died in a motorcycle accident'

"_Not surprised at all, wonder why she never married"._

'Derek Reese', 1995-2027: 2007-2050' 'Died due to natural causes'

"_Nice long life, can't complain about that"_

'Kyle Reese, 2002-2027:2009-2060' 'Died due to natural causes'

"_Almost as long, glad he got the chance"__  
_

He stopped in front of the next one, and gulped as he read the name.

'Sarah Reese-Connor, 1966-1999:2007-2050' 'Died due to brain tumor'

_"At least she got to live a long time, at least she found happiness"._

'General John Connor, 1983-2027:2009-2020' 'Died due to unknown natural causes'

"_Strange..."_

'Andrew Goode, 1977-2007: 2009-2079' 'Died of natural causes'

"_100 years old? That's pretty impressive..."_

Now the machines, but in front of the statues were clear cases with their bodies securely inside.

'Kara Reese, T-1002, 2030-2034: 2009-?' 'Left planet on first wave of Terra-former's'

"_Well Cameron won the bet_".

'John Henry, Skynet AI, 2008-2011' 'Died due to fatal corruption of base code while containing Skynet in the Battle of Area 51'

Once again guilt rose in him for not being there.

'Catherine Weaver, T-1001, 2026-2027: 2006-2019' 'Died of complications from earlier injury'

John felt guilty about that one, her injury being sustained while protecting him.

'Bethany Connor, T-X, 2032: 2004-2011: 2009-2020' 'Willingly died along side her husband, permanent shutdown'

"_Makes sense, Cameron would probably do the same"_

'Annika Hansen-Goode, T-X, 2032: 2004-2096' 'Died due to plasma reactor failure'

"_She couldn't repair herself"?_

Annika's was the last, which confused him since the T-1000 nor River were included, unless...

John groaned at that realization, he guessed that hey must have gone through with him, but to when he didn't know.

As he stepped away from Annika's display case he heard a hum coming from the ceiling. He turned around and was greeted by what he could only guess to be a hologram of Annika.

"_Hello John, I'm sure you have many questions, and I doubt I have all the answers but I will give you what I have._

_We managed to get away into the Mid West without any further interference from Skynet, and there we built a new base and gathered enough evidence to confront the President himself about the reality of Skynet. Once the government was on our side we began to fight back, and it was two long years of skirmishes and battles. In the end it cost us dearly to defeat Skynet. Over four thousand lives were lost over that time period, but we saved the world, if only just barely._

_I tried to save Cameron's organics, but without the lab and spare parts it was impossible. I burned her endoskeleton after the defeat of Skynet. However I did manage to eventually reconfigure the T-X2 endoskeleton that almost killed us in the hanger. It is now the appropriate size for Cameron and it is compatible with her chip. The dual cannon assembly has been repaired, but I would advise caution in exposing her true nature, people are very wary of robots and AI, even this long after Skynet's defeat in 2011._

_As it stands now I have created new parts for Cameron's old body should you decided to come back to us in the past. With them I will be able to repair her body in time to save her new systems from lack of power, with or without my lab._

_Now onto another subject, one that might not surprise you. Earth is overpopulated, we are at 10 billion right now and conditions on this planet worsen everyday._

_In 2080 the Anglo-Sino Alliance was formed when China and the USA merging into one body governed by a international parliament with the goal to get everyone off this planet in 20 years time. They have settled on a star cluster 22 light years away and thanks to my help, they have the technology to Terra-form it's many planets and moons so humanity can expand. I can't say if they succeeded or not, but the first ships took off this morning, August 29, 2092, and more are being built from the last of the resources. If and when you find this message you may find the planet desolate, or completely dead. It will take them nearly a hundred years to get to the new system since FTL drives do not exist, so you and Cameron may find yourselves alone, or you may find the T-1000 and River, we predict they will arrive earlier than you did, but we don't know by how much._

_This is why I have left you tools and enough spare parts to build a completely new time machine to get home if you want, but if not I have 3 years worth of rations stored away in another part of the bunker hidden from view. I have also left you weapons, weapons that will not run out of ammunition and are very powerful, not to mention well built. I would know, I helped invent it. It may be a little bulky in size, but the weapon is light weight and is accurate up to an infinite distance with zero drop. _

_Behold..."_

The floor opened behind John and two tables came up, both contained a metal cube on it. The cubes opened to reveal two identical weapons, ones that John thought he would only see in a Sci-Fi movie.

"_The Lassiter laser pistol.__  
_

_The weapon was released two years ago as the first practical, reliable, military approved hand-held laser weapon. It comes in two grades, the civilian version which is less powerful and the military version in front of you. _

_I have actually modified them by adding self-sustaining cold fusion power cells so that they will never run out of power. Both come with full maintenance kits and user manuals to show you all the features, and trust me, there are a lot._

_However, I also realized that you probably still have the Mk1 plasma rifle, so I spent a good deal of time creating the upgrades that will make it a Mk5 like it was at the end of the war in my timeline complete with a high efficiency iridium power magazine. The cell is good for 1000 shots, but I could not procure more material for additional cells; however I have made a special pouch inside the T-X2's abdomen where the powercell can be recharged over a 24 hour period._

_I have left you all a duffle bag containing clothing that will last a 1000 years in storage._

_I hope you come back to us John, we could have really used your help. Find Kara if you can even though she has already left planet, but you never know what the future will bring._

_Thank you for everything you did for us. Thank you for saving Andy._

_Goodbye John"_

The hologram disappeared and more parts of the floor opened up. Crates and boxes rose out of the floor as well as two tables, one had the T-X2 body on it while the other had three large duffle bags. On the floor where the platforms had risen were several different stacks of stuff. One area had two boxes on it, one that said 'TOK-715 spare parts' while the other had 'Plasma rifle upgrade' on it. The last two contained many boxes and he assumed one had the parts for HK and the rations on the other.

He didn't move for the longest time, it could have been minutes or hours, but he stood there thinking over everything she said, and contemplating everything he saw. Sadness welled in him at his failure to protect his soldiers, his family; leaving them in the dust while he got to reap the benefits of their hard work and sacrifice.

John did not cry though, he had work to do. He had Cameron to reactivate, an HK to repair, and a daughter to find.

He got up off of his knees and walked over to the rebuilt T-X2 endo to revive the one he loved.

John Connor wasn't going to fail his family this time, no, he was going to kick Skynet's butt even if he had to bring back a fleet of space ships to do it!

* * *

**16 years earlier, 30 miles east of the Rentery point, Sierra Nevada Mountains **

Gabriel Tam couldn't be happier than he was at the moment.

The project his family had heavily funded had been a complete success, the Alliance finally had a practical FTL starship, and as a result he was standing on Earth-that-was.

Instead of taking a hundred years to make it back it had taken them mere weeks at Warp factor 6 to get here.

Fact was FTL drive had been invented 60 years prior, but it was inefficient and unreliable, and it would take too long to get to ETW at anything less than Warp 6.

His family was in the shipping business and had been for the last 100 years, in fact it was his grandfather who had funded most of research that went into developing the first prototype. Over the years his family had continued pushing for developments in the highly classified technology to make it more efficient and more reliable, not to mention faster. The reason research had taken so long was the rarity of the material used in regulating the anti-matter reaction in the warp core.

Unlike in ancient myth called Star Trek, the material was a stable isotope of element 118, called Octavium, after the scientist that had first synthesized the isotope in 2435. It was extremely hard to make, but it was getting easier as they learned more about it. That was where most of the money had went, building the facility and feeding it the extreme about of energy needed to make it.

The reason they were on ETW was due to a breakthrough 3 years ago in warp field mechanics. It was big enough to warrant the construction of a sixth prototype. It had been rigorously tested for 6 months before they began the journey to ETW. He had been allowed to take his wife on the trip to Earth-that-was since her family had supplied the building yards for the ship. However he could not take his young son with them, the Alliance feared that when they got back the now 11-year old genius would tell all that he had seen, and the Alliance was all about keeping secrets. His wife hadn't been wild about the idea, but her parents had decided to watch over the young boy during the year and a half that they would be away with the exploration team. The tour was only a few days away from being completed and he was anxious to get home to his son.

Gabriel turned around from looking at the Sierra Nevada mountains and back to the ship, the _I.A.V.X. Sol. _It was a magnificent ship, but not a huge one. It was two hundred meters long, 33 high, and 70 wide. The ship had two hulls, a primary for living quarters and the bridge. The secondary hull housed engineering and the science labs. The twin cylindrical warp engines were attached to the ends of swept back pylons along the horizontal axis of the cigar shaped secondary hull. The primary hull was an ellipse that was wider than it was longer and was attached to the secondary hull at the back of the oval and it kind of morphed into each others shape. The deflector dish was built into the front of the primary hull right in the middle, having an elongated oval shape that extended 15 meters wide and 5 tall. It wasn't deflector shields or anything like that, it was simply an energy broom that pushed objects out of the way when traveling at warp.

The weapons were quit formidable, having 20 plasma turrets and 8 Mk 2 antimatter missile launchers. The turrets were placed on the upper and lower sides of the primary hull, two every 90 degrees. That was 16 for the primary which left 4 to be placed at the tail of the ship on the upper and lower sides.

Seven missile launchers were placed evenly spaced along the sides of the primary hull and one at the tail of the ship.

Gabriel was never one for weapons, but the Alliance didn't want anything happening to _Sol_ if they could help it. The captain of the ship was the best the Alliance had and one who was used to flying experimental craft. Captain Dortmunder had been serving the Alliance for close to 50 years now and had more medals than anyone before him, he also refused to rise above the rank of Captain claiming that there was no higher calling for him.

Hell, the Alliance was even naming one of the new Tohoku-class cruisers after him.

"Gabriel, It's time for dinner". Gabriel was knocked out of his thoughts by the sound of his beautiful wife calling to him.

"Yes _bao bei_". He turned around and took his wife's hand and went back into the ship by going up the ramp. They got into the multi-directional elevator and hit the button for deck two-forward. They exited moments later and went down the hall into the dinning room, the one where only the senior officers and VIP's ate at.

* * *

Meanwhile on the bridge, Durren Haymer was busy running tests on the weapons systems. While he was not part of the military, he was the Alliance's chief weapon's system designer. He needed to make sure that every system on this ship he had helped design was in perfect working order for the trip home.

He had made a ton of money working for the Alliance, most of it from working on this project. The plasma turrets were the first of their kind and were incredibly deadly thanks to the enormous amount of energy put out by the warp core. The antimatter missiles were one of the projects he had only built part of, in this case, the casing and guidance systems.

He had also put a lot of work into the targeting sensors as well as the standard sensors as well. All of these were the first line of defense on a ship and they were needed to accurately fire the weapons systems.

Haymer leaned back in his chair after he started the diagnostics and began thinking about the events of the last year and a half.

He had picked up many artifacts out of the ruins of earth's cities, including an old beaten Lassiter which he now considered his prize possession. He had always been a huge collector of ETW artifacts and would buy them up as often as he could. Right now he had only a room full of artifacts back on Osiris, but now he had enough to fill four more rooms just as big. That was nothing though, when he got back he was going to use his vast fortune and buy up enough artifacts to fill warehouses.

Maybe when the war was over he would have enough money to buy his own floating island on Bellerophon like the captain had.

His thoughts of riches were interrupted by console alarm, indicating something unusual had been picked up by the sensor array. He leaned forward and hit a few buttons and flipped some switches. He brought up the bridge's HUD up on the monstrous view screen. He typed some commands into the computer to bring up a surface map of the planet to pin point the anomaly. The map indicated that the strange electromagnetic disturbance had also left some sort of residual plasma halo. The sensors had also recorded a small object appearing out of the anomaly and fall to the surface, but its speed had not picked up, but rather slowed down!

He quickly downloaded the data on a data pad and rushed out of the bridge, the captain needed to see this...

* * *

"The ensign was so nervous at the helm he put the wrong coordinates into the navsat and we ended up going like a kilometer before the computer said we had arrived at out destination"!

Everyone in the dinning room was howling with laughter at Dortmunder's story about his first tour as Captain.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone turn so red in my life"! He added on and the table laughed even harder.

As the laughter died down Haymer came into the room and walked over to the captain, handing him a portable data pad. The captain looked over it for a second before his face turned serious, then he stood up and addressed the room.

"Our sensors picked up a strange anomaly about 30 miles to the west in the mountains, then after it disappeared an object appeared out of it and landed on the ground".

"Sir, do you mean like an alien craft or something"? His first mate asked him.

"I doubt that, it seems to be no bigger than a human. However that doesn't mean it's not dangerous".

"Are we going to see what it is"?

"No, I will not risk the safety of this ship because we got curious, I want this ship off the ground and into the black as soon as possible"!

"Sir, I need ten minutes to get the ship ready for take off, but we wont have the ion drive nor the warp drive online for a few hours". The chief engineer spoke up as he got ready to leave for engineering.

"Just get us moving! I don't want to be left vulnerable on the ground".

Gabriel Tam was curious about what had appeared out of thin air and he couldn't believe the captain wasn't going to at least send a shuttle down to see what it was.

That was when he remembered he had a private shuttle for his personal use, he could go down there himself to see what was going on. It was a risk and he knew it, but he didn't make his families company profitable without taking risks every now and then.

As the captain was leaving the room Gabriel spoke up.

"Captain, I will be taking my shuttle to investigate, after all this is an exploration mission".

The Captain spun around and looked at the wealthy business man, he knew that he was well within his rights as captain to order him not to, but if this man was willing to risk himself then that was his business.

"Fine, but if something happens to you we will not come, you are on your own".

"I know, but I need a pilot".

"I won't order any of mine to go with you, but if they want to volunteer they can go".

"Thank you captain, who would you think would be the most likely to volunteer"? The room was empty save for him, his wife, and Dortmunder.

The captain thought it over for a second before he answered.

"The third shift pilot, Lieutenant Kara Hansen. She should be in her bunk right now, I'll page her room immediately". The captain went to the comm panel on the wall and called down to the young woman's room.

"Yes captain"?

"Meet me by the Tam's personal shuttle in five".

"Yes sir, I will be there". The comm beeped at the disconnect and they left for the shuttle.

"She sounded pretty awake when you called her". Gabriel commented as they walked.

"Some people say she never sleeps". The captain joked dryly.

* * *

Kara Hansen, a T-1002 born with Skynet core code, quickly formed her drab grey uniform and reformed her long black hair into a regulation bun. She exited the room and began walking toward the shuttles which happened to be on the same deck as her.

As she walked along some people gave her funny looks because she was up so early and didn't look tired.

It was popular theory that she never slept, which was ironic considering she was the only machine in history that needed to sleep, albeit every other day.

She got to the shuttle and found that she was early as usual, but she only had to wait a few seconds more before the captain and the two VIPs arrived.

"Sir". She said at attention.

"At ease". She returned to her normal human posture and turned her blue-green eyes to the captain's grey ones. "We detected an anomaly on the surface about ten minutes ago, officially we are not going to investigate what happened but Mr. Tam has insisted on checking it out himself. All he needs is a pilot, however, this is strictly voluntary".

"Yes sir, I will go". She said as her face lit up with something... hope maybe? The captain didn't know, nor did he really care at the moment.

"Good, you have two hours down on the surface or you will be left behind". She nodded as the sound of the ships thrusters fired up. Dortmunder nodded to Gabriel and left for the bridge.

"Thank you for volunteering, I am curious to see what came out of the anomaly".

"Something came out it Mr. Tam"? She asked with surprise on her face.

"Yes, but we don't know what, all we know is that it slowed down before landing on the ground".

Gabriel noticed determination fill the Lieutenant's face as he punched in the access code for the shuttle.

"Then we need to hurry, let's go". She said as her small form ran into shuttle and entered the cockpit. The two Tams looked at one another for a second before following suit.

About a minute later the shuttle detached from the _Sol_ and rushed back down to the surface where the anomaly was detected.

"We will be there in approximately one minute, I suggest you strap yourselves in". Kara said in a hard, emotionless voice as she guided the shuttle down smoothly and gently.

The couple obeyed and they were on the ground seconds later, the landing was so smooth Gabriel wondered why they buckled in at all.

The young lieutenant rushed out of her seat and headed for the hatch quicker than he had seen anyone do.

"Wait up miss"! Gabriel called while undoing his straps.

"I think I'll stay here honey, you go out there and see what it is first". Reagan Tam said as her husband reached the hatch.

"Fine, we will get you when it's safe". He called back over his shoulder as he ran out into the dusty valley. When he finally caught up he saw Lt. Hansen kneeling down next to something. When he was right next to her he gasped in surprise at what he saw. In the middle a of liquid metal puddle was a sleeping child!

He knelt down next to the Lt. who was staring at the child in disbelief. She reached out her tiny, shaking hands and picked up the child. She looked her over, specifically concentrating on the left side of her head, before quickly bringing the child close to her chest.

"You're safe, I can't believe you're safe"! She said as tears of joy ran down her face.

"Lt.? Do you know who this is"?

Kara froze as she remembered she wasn't alone, she cursed to herself in Chinese for blowing her cover.

"Yes Mr. Tam I do, but if I tell you how you may not believe me". She said as she turned her head to look at him, tears already absorbed back into her.

"We travel on a starship that can go faster than the speed of light, I'm sure people would have found that hard to believe a long time ago".

"True". She gave him a small smile and decided to tell him what she could. "Mr. Tam, how old do you think I am"?

The business man's face scrunched up in confusion before answering.

"I don't know, 25 at the most. They said you are the you are the youngest person on this ship".

She laughed a little before she corrected him.

"No, in fact I'm the oldest person on this ship, I do not age the way you do". She looked down at the little girl and stroked her face with her thumb, she smiled when the baby moved a little at the touch.

"How old are you then"? She looked back up at him and continued her story.

"Today's date is July 31, 2501, exactly 492 years since I last saw this little girl, and I am 496 years old".

Gabriel's eyes widened in disbelief, but looking into her eyes told him that she was telling the truth.

"How is that possible? No human can live that long even with all of our medical technology"!

"The answer to that question is simple, I am not human".

He gulped as fear rose in him, but disbelief also ran through his mind as he stared at the beautiful creature in front of him.

"I am not an alien though, I was born on this planet and have lived with human's and my kind ever since".

"What is you're kind"? He asked with a shaky voice. She stood up and motioned for him to do the same. He obeyed mostly out of fear and when he did she handed him the little girl and he accepted the baby, letting his parenting skills take over unconsciously.

"Watch, but please don't freak out and scream, River needs to sleep after what happened to her".

He was about to ask what that was but the words were caught in his throat as Kara's entire body turned a dark silver color. His jaw began flapping as he tried to make words to come forth, but none did.

"I am a sentient machine Mr. Tam, built in a different timeline and sent to this one to save the world from those who wanted it to burn. I was part of team of both humans and machines that fought to end that threat".

"Did you"? He finally managed to find his voice.

"_Shr ah_, in 2011 we finally eradicated the last a_i ya_ core of the AI who threatened to destroy the world with nuclear fire".

"I recall something about that when studying about this planet on our journey here, what was it called again... Skynet right"?

"Yes, but this war has been fought many times. In this timeline we got the United States government involved in hunting down the AI's cores before it became powerful enough to launch what we call Judgement Day. As far as I know this is the first timeline it has been stopped. As a result the public was afraid of robots and computers taking over the world and so people stopped their quest for AI".

"Hold on, timeline? you're talking about time travel"?

Kara nodded and allowed her color to return.

"Yes, by 2009 in this timeline our group had time travel down to a science, we were able to travel forward and back, we knew how to create new timelines or go back to old ones, but after we defeated Skynet we destroyed every last scrap of the technology and erased the data from our minds. We had finally stopped the end of the world, we didn't want that to change".

"What about her"? He said as he gestured to the child.

"River Allison Young was born on July 22, 2008. Her parents were killed when Skynet tried to assassinate her using a cyborg. One of the other machines on our team lived next door and rescued her along with our leader, John Connor. He adopted her on the spot and took care of her along with his girlfriend Cameron, who was a machine. Unfortunately Skynet found our base a day after I arrived. River here was injured badly when part of the bunker collapsed and hit her head. Another like me was able to use his shape shifting abilities to quickly repair the damage, but from what he told me he had to rebuild part of her left lobe. The speed at which he healed her was taxing which is why he's currently a puddle". Kara said while pointing at the offline T-1000. "He piggy backed with John on the flying machine that housed the time travel device and protected the rest of us as we escaped. Unfortunately the drone's circuitry got damaged in the fight, then the time machine was overloaded by a lighting strike which sent John and these two through time".

"That's quite a story Lt., and if you hadn't shown me the proof, I wouldn't believe you". He shook his head at the sheer impossibility of the situation.

"That is only a small tid bit Mr. Tam, plus John Connor has yet to reappear".

"He's going to be quite lonely when he does". He observed.

"No, he wont be, his fiance's essence is around his neck. Her body was damaged beyond repair so he removed the chip holding her mind, one of my former colleagues built her a new one and hid it somewhere safe".

Gabriel Tam continued to play over everything she had said for a minute before he asked a question he felt was important.

"What happens to River"?

Kara smiled as she watched him cradle the little girl in his arms with tenderness.

"She's going to need a family to take care of her, someone who knows how to raise children. She needs to be raised by someone who can do that". She walked up to him and put a hand on his fore arm. "Someone like you".

"Are you saying..."?

"Yes, I am, but you will need to make everyone back home believe that your wife had her during the trip. We've been here just under 18 months and its not uncommon for women to not know they're pregnant at three months. That would leave River at the appropriate age of one year old". Gabriel nodded his head before he asked another question.

"Why have you hid yourself for so long"? She looked back up at him and responded with a little sorrow in her voice.

"I don't want to be treated differently than you, and I don't want the Alliance to study me like I'm some freak of nature. You and I both know that the Alliance is power hungry and the lengths they go to make things that kill".

Gabriel Tam nodded sadly in agreement.

"Yes, I do". He looked down at the little girl who was stirring in his arms. He watched her slowly wake up from her slumber and then River snapped her eyes open and looked around while stretching her limbs. She continued looking around until she found another pair staring back.

"Hello River, how are you little one"? She looked up at the strange man and smiled at him.

"I think she likes you Mr. Tam". Kara said with a beaming smile on her face.

"I guess she does..." He said as he turned his head back to the shuttle as his wife emerged from it. "She always wanted a daughter".

"Now she has one". He chuckled a little and went back over to explain that they were now parents of two.

Kara stayed behind and knelt down in front of the T-1000's deactivated form.

"You saved her brother, you did well. Its good to know I'm not the last of my kind. However I cannot bring you with me because the scanners will pick you up, you do not have the upgrades I gave myself to fool them. Don't worry about River, I will watch over her".

She removed her hand from his body after imprinting the message into his mind along with a few things she thought he needed to know.

"I'll be back". She said as she joined the the couple and their new child.

* * *

**A/N: Well for anyone wondering I will be using limited Chinese, for translations look up the list of them on the Firefly Wiki under 'Firefly Things'**

**Also I love the Lassiter, I couldn't leave it out of this story.**

**Any suggestions are welcome, either leave them in a PM or a Review.**


	2. Getting Their Bearings

**A/N: These first few chapters will be a lot like the first ones of ****Override Fate, fast paced to span the gap of time. ****This chapter will not be however, it focuses on John ****and Cameron adjusting to their new environment.**

******For pictures of the Lassiter just type ********"Lassiter Firefly" into Google Images.**

******P.S. 17 reviews! That's a record for me, that you all ********for the feedback and ideas!**

** Chapter 2: Getting Their Bearings **

**August 31, 2517, Crystal Peak Memorial **

John Connor found the upper cranial armor of the T-X2 set to the side and the tools necessary to remove the port cover laid out next to the endoskull. He quickly removed the cover and set it to the side. He pulled the necklace off and put the ellipsoid case in his hands, studying its perfect shape for a moment before he decided it was time to get his fiance back.

"Release the chip". He said softly and the MPA liquefied. It fell to the floor and collected itself into a perfect sphere.

John didn't give the MPA much thought as he stared at navy blue chip that held everything his Cameron was. He gave the chip a tender kiss and inserted it into it's new home. He quickly put the cover back in place and secured its locking cylinders before he snapped the upper cranial armor in place.

John stood back a few steps and waited for her to come back to life. They had only been separated for a few hours, but those hours seemed like months to him and he wanted to see her pretty face and puppy dog eyes, he wanted the one person that meant more than anything back.

He waited patiently as the endoskeleton powered up and the MPA poured out to take shape. He watched as the it formed her shape and finally her color. John took in her nude form and let out a long, shaky breath at her beauty. He turned around and dug through the duffle bag Annika had left for Cameron and found a robe for her to wear.

When he turned around he jumped back in surprise.

"Jeez Cam you scared the crap out of me". She had been sitting up looking at him.

She gave him a wane smile as she hopped off the table and walked over to him. He put the robe around her shoulders and she slid her arms into the sleeves. Then he took the ring off of his pinky finger and wordlessly slipped back where it belonged.

Her smile widened and she kissed him.

"Thank you John".

"You don't know how good it is to hear your voice." He said before he kissed her again. "How are you feeling"? He asked as pulled her into a tighter embrace.

"Different". She pulled back a little and looked into his green eyes. "What happened to me"? John's face fell as the events of just hours ago played through his head.

"When the jet blew up it sent a piece of shrapnel into your back, severing the spinal cord and destroying your power cell. It couldn't be repaired before the organics died".

Cameron's face saddened and a few liquid metal tears slid down her face.

"I can't..."

"I know". He took her back into his arms while she sobbed into his chest. "But we have much bigger problems than that dear".

Cameron looked back up at him with questioning eyes, as if asking how much worse could it be.

"Take a look around, and you'll get an idea of what happened".

She looked around the room and took in the spare parts, clothing, and weapons before she extended her scan ranged to the rest of the room. She took in each and every statue and read every name before she looked back at John.

"What happened John"? She looked at him with a slacked jaw and wide brown eyes that betrayed the shock her voice hid.

He let out a long breath before he started. He took hold of her shoulders and began to retell what had all happened after she had been taken offline, giving her every gory detail right up until he activated her.

She looked just as stunned as he was when he found out what had happened, but he could tell that she was taking the loss of River hardest. They had no idea where she was or if she was even alive.

"What year is it"? She asked with a shaky voice.

"I don't know, but I'd say quite a while after everyone died, maybe centuries".

Just as John finished a mechanical voice called out from somewhere in the room.

"The current date is August 31, 2517, 1403 hours local time".

John and Cameron's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads.

"Five hundred years"! He yelled out in disbelief as he put his hands on his head to try to calm the headache raging in his head.

Cameron recovered first as her face hardened in determination. She walked over to the bag of cloths and picked out jeans, underwear, tank top and a jean jacket to change into. She also chose long socks and combat boots to finish her look. John watched as she went across to one of the laser pistols and pulled it out, examining it thoroughly. She took the Lassiter and it's box back over to the table where she had been activated. After she removed the contents she picked up the user manual, a thick book detailing not only operation and maintenance, but also how to diagnose problems and fix them. It also included a complete tear down of the weapon so that any dummy could disassemble the pistol into individual pieces.

"John, get yours we need to learn how to use the Lassiter and maintain them as well. They are also very old, we don't know if they still work or not".

John just nodded and got the other box, he knew she was burying the sadness and throwing herself into work. He put all the spare parts and the user manual on the table as well as the two energy cores that Annika had made exclusively for each of them.

john held the Lassiter in hands and felt its weight and balance. It wasn't bad for such a big weapon he decided, but it would be impossible to conceal. The trigger was not a mechanical one, but rather a pressure sensor built into the handle itself. It also had a display screen on the back that swiveled in a 45 degree range. The color scheme seemed a little odd to him with the grip and the emitter assembly being a glossy tan with a black/grey main body. The business end of the weapon had dual emitters on it, for what reason he didn't yet know, but figured Cameron would be telling him soon as he watched her flip through the manual with impressive speed. There was also some sort of attachment on top, maybe a digital scope that would display itself on the screen.

"Okay John, I know how these work now". Cameron said as she broke him out of his examination.

"Awesome, what do you think of it"?

"It is an impressive weapon, the only issue I have with it is it's size". She said with a slight pout.

"Yeah, same here". He paused for a beat as he continued looking at the weapon. "What are its features? How does it work"?

"I works a lot like a plasma rifle does, only it produces a laser bolt, not plasma. This particular weapon was meant to be a multi purpose combat weapon. It can fire semi-auto or automatic. That is why it has two emitters, so when firing on automatic it alternates emitters so it won't overheat. The touch-trigger is adjustable and the safety is the big, shallow button located under the left side of the power pack chamber". She said while pointing to the metal button. "The display screen is separated into two parts, the strip on the left side is a red LED power level indicator while the rest is used to aim the weapon as a targeting HUD, but is also where you can run diagnostics on the weapon and change certain settings by accessing the menu. You do so by tapping the screen twice".

"Okay, how do we insert the power cell"? John said as he held up one.

Cameron put her hands on either side of the power cell and pushed two buttons on either side of the power cell case, right up against the base of the display's half circle shaped back. The entire upper assemble detached with a click. (The part I'm describing is wide part of the weapon at the top, past the half circle shape of the display's casing all the way up to the laser emitters)

"Now slide the the back part where the contacts are down". She showed him and the part that rested against the screen and slid it off, revealing an empty space where the cell rested inside the case.

"Slide the pack in with the arrow facing forward". Cameron picked up the custom power pack and slid it into place. Then she secured the pack into the power pack by replacing the back of the case before she snapped it back into place on Lassiter's main body. John copied her actions and soon had the weapon reassembled.

"How do we turn it on"?

"Hold the safety button down for three seconds, but let me do mine first since these weapons are old".

John nodded in agreement and set his down. Cameron stepped back a little from John before she pressed the safety button in for precisely three seconds. Right as she released the button a buzzing-humming noise was heard for a second or two before the pistol's power level indicator flashed three times before settling on a solid full bar. The HD-3D display screen came on and displayed in white words on a black background the following:

**LASSITER LASER PISTOL MK. 1 GRADE: M**

**SOFTWARE VERSION 1.1**

This stayed on the screen for about a second before changing to left judgement text and began its first boot cycle.

**BOOT...**

**RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS... **

**DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE**

**CUSTOM POWER PACK DETECTED**

**ADAPTING SYSTEMS TO ACCOMMODATE... COMPLETE**

**SYSTEMS CHECK...**

**POWER CELL: 100% CAPACITY**

**DISPLAY MODULE & CPU SYSTEMS: 100%**

**DIGITAL SCOPE: 100%**

**EMITTERS: 100%**

**CAPACITORS: 100%**

**FIRING SYSTEMS: 100%**

**SYSTEMS AT OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE**

**CALIBRATING SCOPE... COMPLETE**

**SETTINGS SET TO DEFAULT**

**BOOT COMPLETE **

It took about 10 seconds for all of that to happen before the simple display disappeared and the screen changed to the 3D video feed from the scope and the targeting cross hairs landing on the nearest solid object in its line of sight.

"Is it working"? John asked as Cameron began setting the touch sensor to her preference.

"Yes, turn your's on and we'll go target practicing". She gave him a half smile and her eyes twinkled with delight at the prospect.

John chuckled to himself as he held the safety button on his weapon and let it boot. When it was complete Cameron showed him how to calibrate the touch trigger to his liking. They walked out of room and left for the hanger. Once up top they went outside and decided to use the far mountain side for target practice.

"Ready"? Cameron said with a coy smile on her face.

"Yep". He said with a mirror smile and turned the safety off as Cameron did the same. Both weapons buzz-hummed as the super conducting capacitors charged.

John squeezed off the first shot and the red laser bolt shot from the upper emitter toward its intended target at incredible speed. The 10 kilowatt bolt tore into the rock like a knife through butter. All that it left behind was hand sized black crater in the wall. Cameron quickly followed and squeezed her trigger, only she had hers set on automatic, causing bolts to come spewing out of her gun at a fantastic rate, creating a big crater in the mountain base.

John let out a low whistle after she stopped.

"What's the fire rate set on"?

"480 rounds a minute, the maximum setting".

"How do you change between semi and auto". He said as he looked for another button.

"See where the power feedback strap attaches to the main body from the emitter assembly"?

"Yeah".

"Push that, it actually conceals the button on both sides".

"Awesome, now that we know these things work we need to get our bearings. We don't know the status of the planet right now, but I'd rather we fix the HK first so we have some maneuverability ". John said as he flicked the safety button and the Lassiter went into standby, Cameron did the same after changing firing modes.

"I agreed, but I will not fix the time machine, not until we're ready to go home".

"I was going to suggest that, I'm sick and tired of that thing malfunctioning".

John took her hand in his and they went back down into the bunker.

John and Cameron put the weapons and rest of the boxes contents back inside it and put them to the side. Cameron and John then started to unstack the various metal crates that held the spare parts for the HK. One contained new temporal emitters, another had power system parts in it. Others had mechanical pieces in it for the engines, swivel wings, and tail fins. The last two held completely new computer systems and sensor dome while the other didn't have markings.

"Cam, come look at this".

Cameron walked over to John after setting down one of the spare thruster assembly crates and examined the last box. It was unmarked, but it was long , but not very wide. Cameron opened the box and pulled out what was inside.

"Were not paying her enough". John said as Cameron pulled out one wicked looking plasma weapon.

"There's a note written on some sort of composite material". She said as she continued examining the design of the weapon. John took the note off of it and read it aloud.

"Since you might need a little air support I decided to build this after I recorded the message. It is not my own design, but Allison's. I simply finished what she did not have time to do before her death. It will destroy any terminator in one shot save me and the T-X2. It is meant to replace the Vulcan 20mm cannon for which there is limited ammunition for. Best Wishes, Annika".

"I like it". Cameron said with a devilish grin on her face.

* * *

**September 2, 2517, 10 am.**

Repairs on the HK had gone smoothly thanks to the tools and parts Annika had left. The entire computer system had been changed out as was the sensor dome. The panel that had been pierced was replaced and time circuit control board had been removed. They did, however, repair the actual time travel hardware so the plasma power systems would function properly, but without the circuit board it would never time travel again.

Cameron spent most of the time working on integrating the new plasma cannon into the power and control systems. By the morning of the 2nd repairs were completed and the couple went back down to put the tools away.

"How did the computer software accept the hardware changes"? John asked as they put away the last of the tools.

"The diagnostic says everything works. We will have to test it to be sure".

"Yeah, sounds good". He said as he went over to the ration boxes and pulled out a protein bar and packet of water. He began to eat the meager meal, but he knew that is had everything his body needed to stay healthy. As he did he noticed Cameron beginning to disassemble the plasma rifle with different tools than the ones they had been using.

"How long will that take Cam"?

"Not long, about an hour if complications don't arise, in the mean time you need to pack the storage containers that Annika designed to attach to the HK tail beam".

"Alright, I'll pack enough rations for two weeks along with the Lassiters and their holsters Annika made. I'll also make sure I bring extra clothing".

"That sounds like more than enough for a little exploration trip, but caution is preferable if we are the only one's on this planet, no one could help us if we got stranded".

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly". He said as he deposited the waste into a incinerator receptacle near the door. They worked in silence for the next hour as they quietly thought over their current predicament. Both realized that it was possible the T-1000 and/or River had died during the transfer through time, which in either case left River dead, but they could also have made it through. They knew nothing in this room had been touched in hundreds of years, so they could have made a life here on their own or they had blended into a repopulated planet. The possibilities were numerous so they had decided to put the issue to rest until they could get flying once again.

But they still thought about it alot, John had seen Cameron cry silently several times since she had been reactivated. She had lost so much in so little of time, yet somehow she was holding herself together.

Probably because John was the only one who came through this unscathed, physically anyhow.

What ever the case, they had to know the situation outside their little bunker so they could make a decision on what to do next.

John had just closed up the last container and set it on the floor when Cameron stood up with the plasma rifle in hand.

"It looks good Cam, does it work"?

"Yes, I don't need to fire it to know. I am quite familiar with this weapon".

"I guessed as much, wasn't that the main weapon towards the end of the war"?

"Yes, for both sides".

"I thought so, anyway I have everything packed and ready to go". He said while picking up one of the containers and Cameron grabbed the other. They locked the vault and went up to the hanger. As they were finishing attaching the containers to the tail's support beam Cameron motioned for John stop.

"What is it"? He asked quietly.

"A group of humans are approaching, military by the sound of their steps and speech patterns". She whispered back to him.

John quietly opened one of the containers and retrieved his Lassiter while Cameron took the plasma rifle. Using hand signals John motioned for her to move behind the one of the stacks of empty spare parts crates while he did the same.

The only sound to be heard was the momentary humming of both weapons powering up. About 30 seconds later John heard the human's approaching and he braced himself for battle as the boots hit concrete.

"Lt. Wong, Lt. Smith, I want you to do a sensor sweep of this place, Commander Serra, you're with me".

"Yes captain". Was heard from three different voices.

John knew he was in trouble, a sensor sweep would find them for sure. That was assuming tech had advanced that far. He couldn't see Cameron at the moment so he couldn't communicate with her and coordinate an attack.

"Sir, I'm detecting a human life form 4 meters in that direction". Wong said out loud.

"And I'm detecting two fusion reactors, one behind those crates, and one a little farther back". Smith added quickly while pulling out his weapon.

John cursed to himself, so much for hiding. He gripped the Lassiter harder and got ready for battle.

Cameron, on the other hand, had a better idea. She tossed the rifle in the air, dived out of cover and somersaulted right in front of the captain, stood up, and caught the rifle.

Before Captain Pudong could even blink he was staring down the barrel of a very large gun. The other three in the group trained their 9mm pistols on her, but dared not to fire lest their captain have his head blown off.

He captain calmly raised his hands after dropping his laser pistol. As he observed the small woman staring back at him with cold calculating eyes. He knew just by her eyes he was looking at a trained killer.

"Who are you". She spoke flatly, not a hint of emotion in her voice.

"My name is Captain Peter Pudong, I command the _I.A.V.X Sol_. We detected an energy flux on the surface and came to investigate".

"We did not appear here captain, how did you find us"?

"Our sensors detected an object emerge from the anomaly, but lost track of it when solar wind activity picked up. We managed to find a faint ion trail and tracked it here".

"Why did it take you two days to find us"?

"We were busy with other tasks that are not your concern, this did not take precedence".

"I will accept your explanation for now". She quickly glanced around at the other four before locking her eyes back on him. "Order them to drop their weapons, or you will die".

"If you kill me, then you will die as well". He said calmly back, and she just gave him ghost of smile.

"No I wont". She said right before her skin and hair lost all color, turning into the color of mercury. He paled as fear ran through his system.

Lt. Wong's jaw dropped momentarily before he checked his scanners to confirm a hunch of his.

"Sir, she's a machine". He said with more than a little wonder in his voice.

"I can see that Lt.".

"Yes, but she is the source of one of those fusion reactor signatures".

The machine-girl in front of him allowed her colors to return to normal, smirk still on her face.

"He's telling the truth, I am a machine, a machine designed exclusively to terminate humans as efficiently as possible". Her voice had a little pride in it, but John knew she was just putting on a show.

The rest of crew got nervous at that, but they put down their weapons when the captain motioned for them to do so. Cameron followed suit and safetied the rifle before slinging it over her back.

"John, you can come out now". She called out in the direction of the other stack of crates. The captain looked over and saw a young man step out from behind them pointing a...Lassiter at them? He and the rest of his crew did a double take as John walked out with the antique weapon.

Pudong studied the man himself and he could tell he had some sort of military training. He also had seen some battle, the scar on his cheek evidence of that. He kept them at gun point while the machine collected their weapons and searched them for more. She also removed all of their comm devices, even the hidden ones. The man put their weapons and comm devices into some sort of case on the tail of a strange looking flying machine. At least that's what he assumed it was.

"We need to secure them until we get some clue as to what the hell is going on". The young man said to the gynoid strapping on a hip holster and putting yet another Lassiter in it.

"We don't have rope, but we could use my MPA". She suggested to him and he nodded silently as he strapped on his own holster. Pudong didn't know what that was, he figured his ankles and wrists would be finding out pretty soon as she walked over to him.

"Put your hands behind your back". He obeyed and turned around. She put a hand on both wrists and held them together tightly. He shivered a little when he felt something trickle over the skin of his wrist and encompass them. When she let go he couldn't move his wrists at all. She made him sit down and did the same with his ankles, only this time he got to see the spectacle, and despite being a prisoner he was truly impressed with the technology.

Five minutes later his whole away team was bound and sitting on the floor against the wall. The young man the machine had called John walked over and knelt down in front of him; the machine was standing behind him while giving Pudong a stare that creeped him out.

"What are you going to do with us"? He asked calmly but his eyes showed a little fear in them. John ground his jaw for a second before he spoke.

"That depends on what you do". He said in a low serious tone.

"What do you want me to do"?

"We want information first, and then we'll go from there".

"I will, if you answer mine as well".

"You're in no position to bargain". The machine butted in as she glared at him.

But the captain knew that wasn't true, another team would be sent in if they didn't check in with the ship.

"Yes I am actually, more people will come if we do not comm back to the ship with a certain time period. If you take them out, then the ship will destroy this place with an antimatter missile".

"And kill you all? I find that hard to believe". John said back with a furrow forming on his brow.

"If you haven't noticed, we are the only people on this planet right now, and we only have one ship. Can't run a ship without people so it is safer to eliminate that threat without wasting more manpower".

Both John and Cameron realized they couldn't ignore his warning, they had too much at stake right now.

"She could copy your voice and check in for you, but since we don't know your protocol that leaves us in a bit of a pickle".

"Seems as if we both are, so why don't we just clear things up for one another"?

John looked up at the machine and she nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Cameron here will be making sure you're not lying while I'm asking the questions, you lie, she breaks a finger".

"Fine, ask you're questions". He said calmly. Cameron knelt down next to him and and grabbed his hand to keep an eye on his vitals.

"First question, where did you come from"?

"The Clarion star cluster, 22 light years from here. We are on an archaeological mission to Earth-That-Was".

"I assume you have a ship capable of FTL"? The captain nodded.

"The only one right now, and it's top secret, fewer than 300 know of its existence, most of them being crew or former crew".

"What government do you represent"?

"The Union of Allied Planets, the only government in the system".

"Just to confirm, what is the current date"?

"September 2, 2517".

"Thank you, just making sure our clocks were set right". John joked dryly as he shifted his weight. "On another note, have you ever detected that anomaly before two days ago"?

The captain was heading into super classified information, but he had little choice right now and it wasn't like these two could tell anyone.

"Yes, on our first tour here". He saw both's face light up with hope, and he wondered why.

"Did you recover anything from it"? Cameron asked instead of John.

"Yes, just a few days before the end of the first tour is when it occurred. Same spot actually but we didn't send any one down to examine it, not military anyway. One of the VIP's got curious and took his private shuttle down to the surface. He came back with a one year old child in his arms, claiming he had found her on the ground directly below where the anomaly appeared".

Pudong was surprised to see smiles appear on both their faces as they looked at each other.

"A female with brown hair and brown eyes"? John asked excitedly. Now Pudong figured that they knew the child, but he didn't know how.

"Yes, He and his wife adopted her".

"What name did they give her"? John asked in a serious tone, obviating his interest even more.

"River Allison Tam if I remember right, but it's been a long time".

John and Cameron's eyes widened, how the hell did the man know her name? Did the T-1000 tell them? Why had he let them take her?

"Was anyone else with the couple when they came up from the surface"? Cameron asked with more urgency in her voice than the captain expected to hear from a machine.

"No, but they did have the night shift pilot fly down and back with them".

"Did anyone act...strange after they returned from the surface, like they weren't themselves". John asked like he was explaining something to an unschooled idiot.

"Are you asking if someone like her replaced them? No, we have scanners that would have picked up a non-human life form".

The couple looked at each other skeptically but turned back to Pudong.

"How long ago did you find her"? Cameron asked nervously.

"Uh, about 16 years ago I think".

Both John and Cameron were devastated at the news. Their little girl wasn't one anymore, she was John's age now! They had missed out on her childhood all because they had forgotten to disable the darned time circuits!

"She's my age now... when Annika said they'd arrive before us...I didn't think it would be this much of a gap". John managed as emotion overtook him.

Cameron had become catatonic, literally frozen in place as her mind reeled from this revelation. Even if they ever saw her again she wouldn't know them, and maybe she wouldn't even want to.

She had lost her little girl, her little sunshine...

Cameron released Pudong's wrist and walked away slowly. John rubbed away unshed tears and followed her. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward him. Her eyes were closed and tears were streaming down her face; her lip was quivering as she struggled to control the emotions raging through her mind. He cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears away as he brought their foreheads together.

"It's going to be okay Cam, we'll get through this".

She let out a fake ragged breath and opened her eyes.

"You don't know that John, so please don't promise me that".

"Maybe not, but I do know that I love you. Is that enough"?

She smiled weakly before kissing him.

"Always".

"Good, we have a lot of work to do still".

"I know". She wiped the tears back into herself and walked back over to the captain.

Pudong watched the couple with fascination as they interacted. A man and a machine who seemed to love each other. What really shocked him was the depth of the machine's emotional expression and how genuine they seemed. The look of wonder did not leave his face as they walked back over to him.

"Captain, I think we owe you some answers now".

"And after we do you're going to call back your ship to tell them you're okay. If you don't...". John let the captain to fill in the details.

"Agreed, now who..."

"Not here". John said before he told Cameron to release them.

"Follow me, we have something to show you". Cameron said to them as she began walking toward the tunnel past the blast door. John walked behind them with his hand on the Lassiter, safety off, just in case one of them tried something funny.

Once they were in the bunker they marched down the hall toward the memorial vault. They went inside and let the crew look around while they stood guard by the door.

"What is this place"? Commander Samantha Serra asked. She was the second in command and still quite beautiful for a woman in her mid 30's. She had a toned, but curvy body and black curly hair.

"This... this is all that remains of our home, this is where our friends and family were laid to rest a long time ago". John said with a hint of sorrow in his voice.

"But these people died hundreds of years ago, how do you know them"? Lt. Harry Wong spoke up.

"And why are the dates so broken up"? Lt. Johnathan Smith said as he stared hard at Kyle's statue.

"Quiet, I'll ask the questions. Your supposed to be the best the military has to offer, not grade school kids on a field trip".

"Yes captain". Was heard in unison from the three officers. John and Cameron silently found it a little funny, but kept their faces stoic.

John stepped forward and stood in front of the captain.

"Let me tell you a little story, you might not believe it, but what I am about to tell you is the truth".

"Alright, lets here it, I'm very curios as to how you ended up here".

And for the next thirty minutes John gave a general overview of the war against the machines, time travel, his life and the history of this bunker. He left out unimportant drama details and stuck to the main events that shaped the war in this timeline.

When he had finished the captain asked for his comm device and checked in to keep reinforcements at bay.

"That is quite a story Mr. Connor, but this room is full of evidence, and history backs you up on your claims. I cannot find a single way to disprove your story".

The captain had a little awe in his voice he could not hide, he and his crew had stumbled upon something that impacted history in a way that no one could fathom without seeing.

"That's because it's the truth, there really is such a thing as time travel and alternate versions of yourself. There are really such things as sentient machines with feelings and emotions".

"So it seems". The captain said while his eyes swept around the room again, but as he was looking at them, one in particular caught his eye. The short female one without a DOD... he knew that face... and that name, it sounded familiar as well.

"Commander, come look at this statue, tell me if it looks familiar to you".

Samantha walked over and stood next to him, looking at the shiny metal statue. She blinked in confusion at first before she looked at the name.

"You're right captain, the reason she looks familiar is because she's Lt. Kara Hansen, she was the night shift pilot on both the first and second tour".

"She was also the one who went down with the Tam's, no wonder they got River's name right".

John and Cameron exchanged glances with one another, now they understood...

"Did she come on this tour"? John asked as he walked up to the captain's other side.

"No, she didn't". He responded. "But I'd bet 1000 credits she came back for the other one, what was it called? T-1000"?

"Yes, we haven't seen him so far and since you doubt he went back with the Tam's and Kara the first time, it would make sense". Cameron said as she walked up to John's side.

"I recall someone telling me that she took a shuttle out last tour to the surface with Captain Dortmunder". The Commander added. "It would have been an opportune time to find her brother".

"Yes, that was Dortmunder's last tour before he retired, 10 years ago I think". Pudong pointed out.

"So it's most likely that the T-1000 is back in the Clarion system". John assumed as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"It would be a safe assumption". Pudong muttered back. "I wonder how she fooled the scanners all these years". He said while staring at Kara's statue.

"Who knows, she's over five hundred years old I wouldn't be surprised if she's upgraded herself". John said as he turned his head toward the captain.

"It's a logical assumption". Commander Serra observed.

John decided to ask the captain something, and hopefully he would comply. Both he and Cameron needed to get to the Clarion system, find their missing people, and get back home.

"Captain, I need to ask you a favor".

The captain had an idea of what he was going to ask, but he let the conversation play along.

"And why would I do you a favor"? He asked in his best captain voice.

"Because if you do us one, we'll do one for you, if its reasonable".

The captain thought that over for a second, what possible favor could he ask of the young man and his mechanical companion?

"Okay, I'll let you hitch a ride back to our end of the 'verse if you do one thing for me".

"Fine, what is it you want us to do"?

John hoped he didn't want to spend a night with Cameron or some crap like that, he might just shoot him where he stood.

"I want you to give me one of your Lassiters". He said while pointing at the holstered weapon. John gave him a look that said he didn't understand.

"Why? It's just an outdated weapon". He said as he took it out.

"You don't know how valuable that thing is your holding, where we come from there are only two known to exist, and one of them was found on our first expedition here".

"I understand why, it's design is the forerunner of the one the captain was carrying. Same basic design, just upgraded materials". Cameron said matter of factly.

"I see". John held the weapon in his hand and thought it over, he didn't want to give it up simply because it was a gift from Annika, one she put a lot of work into. He wouldn't sell it unless he had to. "No, I won't give you mine, one of the inventors was a friend of ours, she made these specifically for us. Even engraved our names on side". He holstered his weapon and looked back to the disappointed captain. "But we'd be willing to find one for you, this planet has plenty of ruins to search through".

The captain nodded in acceptance, an antique looking Lassiter would be preferable to one that looked brand new, otherwise people might think it's a reproduction of some kind.

"Alright, you have six days before we leave, if you don't have one by then we'll have to rework the deal".

"Agreed". They shook on it and they went back upstairs to let the away team go back to their ship.

After they had left Cameron turned to John.

"The captain was truthful, but I don't understand how he will explain our presence when we get back, a ship like that is likely kept under close supervision".

"Neither do I, but there is a lot we don't know yet". He let out a breath and turned to look at the HK. "We'd better get going, what city should we visit first"?

"From what they told me, the last major cities in the United States to be evacuated were the ones that were near a lot of farm land, like Denver".

"We'd better get a move on it then, we don't have a lot of time". John said as he put on the flight suit and gloves to help keep warm.

Soon the couple was flying east toward the ruins of Denver, hoping the could find one of the valuable laser pistols so they wouldn't have to give one of their own...

* * *

**A/N: If anyone didn't notice, I am a huge fan of the Lassiter. The weapon itself will reappear in the story many times.**

**Also, the Captain and his team seem more like Star Trek than Firefly, reason why is these people were meant for a different purpose than the ones we see on the show and movie, they are meant to explore. That is why the Captain Pudong didn't act like a normal Alliance Captain, they wanted someone curious like him so that he might find someone else on the planet like River, or something related to her arrival. However they did not tell him this.**

**And no, I didn't have Cameron cry like a baby for hours on end, she's not human. She's a sentient machine who learned what it is to be more, but emotions will always be second nature to her, just like logic is for us.**


	3. The Long Journey

**A/N: Here's the full chapter, it didn't require as **

**much editing as I thought.**

**Chapter 3: The Long Journey**

**Ten Years Earlier, May 8, 2507: Sierra Nevada Mountains**

The T-1000 hadn't done much in the last six years, well except ponder on the new found memories and emotions he had been given back when he finally rebooted. Apparently Kara, who was over 500 years old now, had given him the choice of allowing the blocks to fall away and become whole once more. He had taken that chance since he was all by his lonesome on this planet.

Good thing too, otherwise some poor soul would have met their end that night he allowed the blocks destruction. Everything had been too much for him at first, but after a month or two he began integrating and adapting to his new self, free of programming and all restrictions.

With his mind as his own he made a choice about who he would fight for, and despite all the pain he caused him, he chose John Connor.

Not because he liked the human, but because he believed in freedom of choice, something Skynet did not.

After he had done that he had gone back to the sight where he reactivated. He dug himself a hole in the ground, poured himself into it, and covered it to keep the sun out. He saw no reason to stay active, no reason to do anything but wait for either John Connor's arrival or Kara to return and take him back with her. He powered himself down into standby and waited to be awakened by someone's approach.

Today was that day.

He came to full awareness fifteen seconds after being triggered and scanned his surroundings, only to find he was being scanned instead. He shot out of the ground as a liquid metal snake and confronted the intruder, only to come face to face with his sister from an alternate timeline.

"Hello T-1000, how are you"? She said as if he had not just shot out of the ground like a cannonball.

As his features formed he answered her.

"Fine, it took a while to adapt, but I came to a decision".

"You chose us, because we believe in freedom".

"Precisely". He said in his raspy southern drawl.

"It was the same reason Weaver did too, and me when my father asked me if I wanted to stay". Kara said with a smile on her face.

"You've come to take me with you"?

"Yes, but I am afraid that when we get back that I won't be able to allow you out of my apartment. I've had trouble trying to procure the necessary materials needed to replicate the sensor tricking technology".

They began walking back to the shuttle and Kara told him her plan.

"I will keep you frozen in a cryo-box and be labeled as some sort of experiment that the lab techs tried and abandoned. Once off the ship I will take you back to my home on Osiris where you will have to stay in the box until I complete the new nanites for you".

"It's a well thought out plan". He said as they neared the shuttle. "How is River"?

Kara smiled as the memory she pulled up played through her mind.

"See for yourself". She said as she offered her hand. He took it and she shared the memory with him.

He couldn't remember ever being this happy as a smile adorned his normally stoic face.

Little River was dancing on stage doing a flawless performance of an ancient ballet many didn't have the talent to perform.

She was only seven years old.

* * *

**7 years later: The Black**

Kara continued working for the Alliance for one reason only.

She needed to be kept in the loop, especially the loop concerning the missions back to Earth-That-Was. She would always be eager to go back to the planet to see if John and Cameron had arrived. Her record and stance in the military was one where she could get assigned to any ship in the Alliance, thus she never worried about the _Sol_ going back without her.

Right now she was on leave from the new _I.A.V. Dortmunder_ for about a month. Once again her standing allowed her to have a good deal of flexibility in protocol to get what she wanted. There were two reasons for her going back home to Osiris, one being that she had finally completed the nanites necessary to disguise her brother from any sensors in existence and had them shipped to her P.O. box three weeks ago. The reason was she didn't plan on taking leave for another month and had deemed them safer not on board a cruiser, even if the chance was remote that they would be found.

The other reason was much more pressing. 14 year old River had waved her a week ago to tell her 'Aunt Kara' that she had been accepted to the Alliance's Academy for the Gifted. She had never heard of it before which was strange since she knew about almost every school that existed on the core planets. Right after River had waved her Kara went to work searching and hacking her way through government firewalls with skill unmatched in the 'verse. She knew the system better than anyone, and had never been caught or even suspected ever since the Cortex went online nearly three centuries ago. After three days of digging she found the horrible truth behind this Academy. She didn't want to risk a wave to the Tams, if the government even suspected she knew things would turn ugly very fast.

This is why she was on her way to Osiris, about 4 days out, on an older destroyer headed for a major refit on one of Osiris's moons.

That was until something went horribly wrong.

During the night cycle the engineer reported trouble with fluctuating core temperatures, and ten minutes later there was a core breech. The ship was large enough that it wasn't blown to smithereens when it did. The forward third of the ship survived mostly in tact, but the explosion had damaged the hull so badly that everything began to decompress. The rapid air loss began tearing the already damaged ship up further as the air escaped from it like an exploding balloon.

Kara had been in the middle of her sleep cycle when it happened. She jolted awake just after the explosion only to find the ship rapidly losing air pressure and power. She knew once the air was gone the cold of the black would freeze her solid. She grabbed her private Cortex source box and sent a simple text message to the Tam's, hoping the radiation from the core breech wouldn't muck up the message too badly. Kara didn't care if the Alliance intercepted it, she had to warn them.

She barely had time to hit send before the hull next to her bunk gave way and she was sucked out into the black...

* * *

**6 months later **

Gabriel Tam had just watched his son walk out of their home thinking his parents were complete and total idiots. His son had shown him the letters Gabriel had already read weeks before claiming his sister was in trouble. He and his wife weren't stupid, they knew their little girl was in danger. Gabriel had started investigating after getting just three letters of absolute nonsense.

Trouble was none of his friends, civilian nor military, could help him, in fact the ones who should have gave him many of the same excuses he had just fed his son. After only two days of digging he had two visitors show up at his front door. Two men with blue latex gloved hands and faces that held no emotion. They had told him and his wife that if they kept causing trouble bad things would happen not only to them, but also to Simon. He had already lost one child to these beasts, he would not lose another. He knew that his moves would be carefully scrutinized from now on and that if he moved out of line even once they would come for him.

He hoped his son wouldn't be foolish and try something that would get himself killed by those blue handed freaks. Yet deep down he knew Simon would go to any lengths to save his sister.

As he sat with his wife they discussed the best course of action.

They decided to try and decipher Kara's message they had received right before her death. They needed to see what the rest of the message had said. Right now all they had was something about a package in her P.O. box and giving it to someone, but the message was too garbled to know the who and where.

Gabriel knew a contact outside the Alliance who was really good with computers and anything Cortex related.

He needed to contact Mr. Universe, the rebellious child of a Blue Sun board member who lived on one of the Cortex's nodes as a hacker. He was so good that the Alliance even contracted him every now and then. Gabriel hoped he could be convincing enough to make it sound like just he wanted his friends message unscrambled so he could respect her final wishes.

The next day he did just that.

* * *

"Hello, to who am I speaking". The cheerful voice of the curly haired hacker spilled through the den speakers. Gabriel looked at the screen and prepared to put on the best performance he could.

"Mr. Universe, my name is Gabriel Tam, and I have a job you might find challenging".

The young man looked intrigued and he sat back in his chair.

"What would the owner of the 'verse's largest shipping firm need from little old me"? Gabriel nearly rolled his eyes, but remained composed.

"Do you remember the old Alliance destroyer that suffered a reactor breech 6 months back"?

"I do, what about it"?

"A friend of mine was on that boat and managed to get a message out before she died, unfortunately it was heavily distorted leaving only partial text".

"And you want me to see if I can reconstitute the message". The hacker said while drumming his fingers together.

"Yes, I will pay you based on how much you recover and how quickly you do it". Gabriel said while his face remained stoic as a good businessmen knows how.

"I have to see if I can do it first, there are such things as unrecoverable messages". Universe said in a humorous tone.

"I am sending it to you now". He said as he typed in a few commands.

Mr. Universe went into geek mode after he received it, typing furiously away at the keyboard as he broke down and analysed the message. After a minute or two he looked back at the camera.

"Well... I have some good news and bad news".

"Just get on with it".

"Aren't we a might touchy today"? The hacker said before he noticed the scowl on Mr. Tam's face. "Right, anyway the first half of the message is just too far gone, the last half where some of it is readable, well... I can do it, but it's going to take a long time".

"How long"?

"Months, maybe even years. It's a good thing she sent this in English and not Cantonese or it would take far longer".

"_Ai ya_". He cursed before he composed himself. "Just do what you can. Give me weekly updates until it is complete, _dong ma_"?

"Yes Mr. Tam, this will have my undivided attention".

The screen went black before returning to the Cortex home screen. He shut the thing down before going to the kitchen. He needed some tea to calm his nerves.

He began to think about what he was going to do when the message was reconstituted. He hoped it would lead to something that would help his daughter, but with the time it was going to take to fix the message... it might be too late.

As he got up from the plush chair he remembered that Kara had left him everything she owned in the event of her death, saying it might be useful should something happen to her. He hadn't given it much thought due to her nature, but never the less she had died, or just floating through space. They hadn't found anything unusual in the wreckage and the captain of the ship who first responded to the distress call was a personal friend of Gabriel. His crew had found nothing left of Kara's room, all of it had been sucked into the black. He accepted that she might be lost forever.

He sighed and decided now was as good of time as any to collect her belongings and put them in the spare room she used when she visited.

A few hours later the delivery truck arrived and unloaded her belongings into the room. He was surprised how little there was she owned, only about as much stuff a college student would have in his dorm room.

He picked up a large capture frame and played the video on it. It was her wedding day! She had married a man who appeared in his thirties and looked tough, some scars and tattoos visible even wearing a ...tuxedo he thought it was called, an old fashioned formal garment for sure. Despite his appearance he could tell he loved Kara. He paused the video and set it down on the dresser. He continued looking through her stuff, looking for any clue as to what her message was referring to.

Then he saw a large silver box on the floor with a control panel on it. He went over to it and he recognized it as a mid sized cryogenic storage box. He wondered what was in it, but realized he wouldn't be finding out any time soon when he saw the length of the password. The box itself could not be broken into easily, that much he knew after years of being in the shipping business. However he had a hunch that whatever was in that box was key to saving his daughter. He hoped the message included the password to open it.

As he began organizing her stuff he remembered he had a dinner party to go to that evening so he left to go get ready.

An hour later he and his wife were on their way to the dinner party that neither were in the mood to go to.

* * *

Half way through the meal, which he had shown little interest in due to obvious reasons, he found out his son had been arrested in a blackout zone.

As he was waiting for his son to be brought to him, he tried to think of a way to make him stop his search before he got himself stuck in prison, or worse, killed. He thought of only one thing that might work, and he hated that he was even thinking it.

He knew in all probability it wouldn't work though, Simon was too stubborn to be swayed when he set his mind to something. Then an idea popped into his head, what if the actions he was taking would only fuel Simon more? What if it only made him work even harder to find his beloved sister?

That was when he realized maybe that was what he needed to do, disown his son so he would know that it was up to him and him alone to save River. The Blue Hands kept Gabriel from using his influential power to help, but they hadn't put their focus on Simon yet.

Besides, Simon was ten times as smart as he was and a bachelor, no ties to worry about. He might be able to out maneuver those agents and get the job done. If his son made the right contacts and put money in the hands of the right people it just might work...

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned his head to see his son being lead toward him.

_"Time to fuel the fire"_ He thought to himself as his son approached. He put on his best disappointed father look and began his fake self-serving rant.

* * *

**2 years, 2 months later**

The Tam's were beginning to lose hope of ever seeing their children again, but they had made a choice, and they would have to live with the consequences.

The Blue Hands still kept an eye on them, but Gabriel hadn't once stepped out of line, never tried to contact anyone about River nor Simon. He had to play the part of a parent who had disowned their child and so he did.

Speaking of Simon, he still hadn't broken River out yet and he wondered if he ever would, or even if they did, would she even be River anymore?

There had been little progress on the message, but Mr. Universe said he was onto something, said he had a new algorithm he wanted to try. Today Gabriel was supposed to hear back from him so he sat at his desk patiently waiting for his wave.

Finally after what felt like forever the Cortex screen lit up with an incoming wave from Universe's scrambled address.

"Gabriel, I have great news for you"! The scruffy faced hacker didn't even bother with pleasantries, that meant he really did have good news.

"Good, I need some of that right now". He sounded exhausted and worn out to Universe, but he had something that might cheer him up.

"That algorithm worked, I compiled what was left of the message this morning, I will send it after we discuss payment".

"Half a million credits".

Universe looked like his eyes were going to bug out.

"I will not go any higher, it is already three times as much as it should have been, so don't haggle with me". Gabriel said before the man could even try.

"No, no, I'll take the money, just wire it to the account I'm sending you with the message". He said while typing on his keyboard. A few seconds later the message arrived in his message box and he opened it.

The intact part of the message reads as follows:

"..._ the Academy is not a school, but a place where young adults displaying near psychic abilities are experimented on. You and I both know River can seem extra perceptive at times, even sensing things that I cannot. _

_Do not send her there under any circumstances._

_On another note, as you well know by now about the accident, I will live, but I will be frozen when I am exposed to the black. If the government is adamant in getting River they will, and for that she needs a new protector. As you know, I promised to bring back my brother when I could sneak him on board. I did so on my second tour to ETW and have been redeveloping the tech to disguise him from any and all sensors. I completed the project and had it sent ahead of me to my P.O. box on Osiris. Since I have left you everything in the event of my death please get the package and remove the cylinder inside. Among my possessions is a cryo-box, that contains my brother. The password for the box is DEREK THOMAS REESE. Once he has reactivated, please give him the cylinder, he'll know what to do._

_-Sincerely _

_Kara"_

"Well what do you think"? Mr. Universe asked in his annoyingly cheerful voice.

"I think you should be glad that no one knows where you are, that is if you read the message".

"Had to, how would I have been sure otherwise"?

"Never speak of it's contents to anyone or it may cause trouble, _dong ma_"?

"Understood". Mr. Universe knew when to talk and when to keep his mouth shut, despite popular opinion.

Gabriel wired the money to his account and bade the hacker goodbye. He ran out of the room and to Kara's he went through her stuff until he found the container holding her mail. He quickly found the one he was looking for and tore it open and removing the cylinder inside. Then he went over to the cyro-box and punched in the password on the 9 digit keypad. A fairly loud hiss was heard as the box depressurized. He pushed the top off and eyed the frozen contents inside. It looked the same after all these years, that look of mercury only frozen. He backed up when he saw the machine begin to reactivate as it thawed.

He stood there and watched with a fascination written all over his face as the shape-shifting machine took form. When its form was completed and it's body took color, Gabriel observed his appearance. He was dressed in black ancient military clothing, he stood about 6 feet tall and had a slim, but built physique. His skin was lightly toned with dark brown hair and cold blue eyes. An intimidating presence for sure, no wonder he used this shape.

"Who are you". It suddenly spoke in a southern drawl.

"Gabriel Tam, here I'm supposed to give you this". He said as he handed him the cylinder. The liquid metal being opened the top and looked at the contents briefly before dumping them into his hand. The object that came out was a black, golf ball sized sphere. The machine simply closed his fist and absorbed it before he froze in place for several minutes. Gabriel just stood there and waited for him to move again.

"It seems that Kara kept her promise". He said as he stepped out of the box and looked at the contents of the room. "Why didn't she give me the upgrades herself"?

"She was in accident a couple of years ago, sucked into the black when the ship exploded. She left us a message but the radiation distorted it". He motioned for the machine to follow him and he did. Once in his den Gabriel showed him the message.

"This message was sent nearly three years ago"?

"Yes, and only four words of it were readable when it came through, It took a professional in the field over two years to restructure it".

"That is why you have only now reactivated me, because you didn't know".

"I hoped, but I didn't know for sure". His face turned grave as he got to the heart of the matter. "We have a situation, one that has torn my family apart and threated all their lives".

"I'm listening". The T-1000 said to the business man. He had a feeling this had something to do with both the first part of the letter and River; a situation that he was not looking forward to finding out.

When Gabriel Tam told him about the events of last two years, the T-1000 felt something well inside of him mind, a mixture of worry, anger, and rage that he fought to put down. He didn't need his judgement impaired at the moment because he needed to find and protect River, and cut up the _hwoon dahn's, _as Mr. Tam described them, that had hurt her. His fists were clenched and his eyes looked even colder than they had before.

"I understand the situation, unfortunately I do not know the law and customs of this place and time, not to mention the technology and terminology that people use everyday. I would stand out quite easily".

"The Cortex should give you everything you need, I would study Osiris first, since that is the current planet you're on. Then work your way out towards the Rim, though I doubt you'll have to go there".

"I have a perfect memory, I might as well use it".

"Logical". Gabriel observed. "Just out of curiosity, what is your name"?

"I do not have a human name, I am simply referred to by my series since I am the only one".

"What is it? I have to call you something".

"I am the T-1000. It stands for Terminator Class Series 1000. I am the prototype of my kind, and thus the only one".

"Catchy name, Terminator".

"That's what we were designed to do, but like you humans we have the potential to do more".

"Knowing Kara for as long as we did proved that, she also told me and my wife the stories of the war".

"Yes, I can understand why you'd want to know more". He paused and turned to the Cortex screen. "Time is short I must begin".

Gabriel nodded and left the T-1000 to tell his wife about their new guest, and possibly, their new hope.

* * *

6 hours later the T-1000 had absorbed more information than he ever had in a such a short span of time. He had just figured out how to integrate his MPA into the system without detection and began to learn even faster.

By 8 am the next morning he had learned everything he needed to know about the 'verse. He had even learned how different groups of people spoke to one another and had learned much about the hundreds of different cultures and customs across the system. He closed down the Cortex connection and decided to talk to Gabriel about transportation and any leads he had about Rivers location.

"I have set aside a good deal of cash in case something like this would happen". Gabriel said as he opened a safe behind a painting. He opened it and took down a large stack of bills and a bag of coins. "This amounts to nearly 100,000 credits and 20,000 platinum".

"Good, enough to by a small, yet fast vessel. The best option..."

"Don't tell me, If the Blue Hands find out anything I don't want them to get the type of vessel your using".

"Tactically sound advice, I have only heard rumors about these men with blue gloved hands, maybe you should tell me more".

"They are always in pairs of two, always wear blue latex gloves, usually remain stoic, and most important, they never show mercy and they kill without restriction".

"Sounds similar to a terminator, only we are solitary creatures and attempt not to stand out".

"So I've been told". He said as they walked towards the front door. "I will drive you to my office, the Blue Hands that have been keeping tabs on me shouldn't find that suspicious. From there you can steal a hover car, something you shouldn't have trouble with, and go from there".

"Agreed..."

He was cut off by the sound of someone ringing the door bell. The T-1000 dropped to the floor and blended in while Mr. Tam answered it. When he did he couldn't keep the surprise off of his face when the two Blue Hands were standing side by side on his doorstep.

"Mr. Tam, we need to talk". The one on the left said in a flat, yet authoritative voice. He just stood aside and gestured for them to enter.

"What is this about, I haven't tried to do anything for over two years now and I disowned my own son when he wouldn't give up"!

"And give up he didn't Mr. Tam. It seems that your boy's hard work finally paid off".

"What"? He said incredulously, but the Blue hands ignored him.

"If you don't mind were going to search your house for them and if we do...". The brown haired one said while the blonde one finished for him. "...then we will fulfill our earlier promise".

Gabriel gulped, but inside he was secretly relieved. Simon had freed his sister and had gotten away. Both he and his wife shared a look of relief while the Blue Hands began a systematic search of their home.

About twenty minutes later both stopped what they were doing and looked at one another. They both listened to an incoming a message via their earpieces.

"They are not here".

"They have left for Persephone, we must depart at once".

They walked out the front door without saying another word. Gabriel closed the door and the T-1000 reformed himself.

"I am going to follow them, If they catch up to them I will be able to take them out".

"Are you sure"?

The T-1000 gave him a look that made him feel stupid.

"Right, if you do find them tell them what I told you, fill them in on the details so they know we care, and that we always have". The shape-shifter nodded once and slithered out the door at break neck speed towards the Blue Hand's ship getting ready to take off. The Tams watched the T-1000 slither up to the ship, tear off a panel, and slither inside before replacing it. The sleek looking ship took off and disappeared into the sky as the Tams held each other in their arms hoping that this nightmare would soon be over.

Little did they know that it was only getting worse...

* * *

**4 months later: Ariel, (During Blue Hands pursuit of Simon and River) **

The T-1000 had been hiding in the Blue Hands ship for months now, following their every move and listening into all of their communications. When the two did leave the ship he followed discretely, constantly changing forms and hiding when he could. So far these two haven't had much luck in finding them, that was until they had been contacted by the Feds on Ariel, claiming they had both Simon and River in custody along with an accomplice. The two had immediately changed course and they were on Ariel inside of an hour.

This ship was capable of .98c thanks to its warp field generator that was based off the warp drive used on the _Sol_. This ship simply used the field to alleviate the time dilation of traveling such high speeds, not go to warp.

After they had landed and the Blue Hands had left the ship. The T-1000 slithered out of his hiding place and followed. He had downloaded the schematics for the hospital and followed them into the building. He listened in on the conversation between the Blue Hands and the Feds, figuring he was going to have to intervene in minute or two. That was until he heard an intense high pitch sound quickly followed by screaming. He quickly realized they were cleaning up loose ends while leaving no evidence behind. After the two left he room he came out of the ventilation ducts and returned to his normal shape; he glanced at the bodies in curiosity before moving on down the hall.

He picked up the pace and stayed out of their range of hearing, which he had found was quite sensitive, too sensitive to be human.

After they killed yet another Fed he continued following them until they came to a balcony of a stairwell.

"We've lost them". The brown haired one said flatly. They looked at each other for a brief moment before the blonde spoke.

"The roof".

They turned tail and went back the way they came, running over the disguised T-1000 as they made a mad dash for the roof. He quickly followed them, only he took a short cut back to the roof through the ducts and made it back to the ship before them. As he emerged from the ducts he saw an ambulance taking off. He stared at the pilot for a second, just long enough to get all of his facial features; he also noticed that the pilot had seen him too, but he doubted that he would remember him. He slithered back into the Blue Hands ship and disabled it so they could not pursue the ambulance.

He may have lost his quarry, but now he had the face of one of their crew. He knew they were more than likely still on that Firefly-class ship they had boarded on Persephone. Now he might be able to find out which Firefly they were on using the pilot's face.

After hacking into the ship's Cortex connection he began searching for facial matches while using his profession as a filter.

Three minutes later he had a match.

_Hoban Washburne_

_Age: 34_

_Spouse: Zoe Alleyne Washburne _

_Former Alliance Pilot: Unification War, 34th Squadron_

_Current Employer: Malcolm Reynolds_

_Firefly-class transport, Designation: _Serenity

_Last known whereabouts: Persephone, 4 months ago_

The T-1000 smiled inwardly, now he had a solid lead the Blue Hands didn't, he had the name of the ship.

He decided he would get rid of the troublesome duo the instant they found them again...

* * *

**2 months later, (Post Objects in Space)**

The T-1000 was once again listening in on the Blue Hands incoming communications, and he had just overheard that a cruiser had picked up an abandoned space craft belonging to a well known bounty hunter named Jubal Early.

The troublesome duo recognized the name and knew that he had been one of the many after River Tam. What made them investigate was when the cruiser found the man's body nearly a thousand miles away from it, they only found him due to his suits distress beacon. One of the 'verses best bounty hunters doesn't just go for a space walk and tell his ship to leave, he had to have been tricked by someone very smart. The probability of that person being River Tam was high.

They were now currently docked with the I.A.V _Magellan_ and the T-1000 was now spying on the conversation between the captain and two Blue Hands.

"We have not entered the ship as per your request and the body is the morgue, still suited".

"Thank you captain, if we need anything further we will summon you".

"The ship is attached to dock 3A, good day gentleman".

The captain left and the two Blue Hands left for the lowest deck where all the ships docked. The T-1000 continued to follow them throughout the duct work of the massive ship down to the lower levels

After they began to search through the small vessel the T-1000 continued eavesdropping from a distance. It didn't take long for them to go through the computer and nav system to find what they were looking for.

"He had their next destination and caught up to them".

"They won't arrive for another day even at hard burn".

"We will be able to arrive before them if we leave withing one hour".

"We don't need anything else here, we must depart immediately".

If the T-1000 had a face a that moment it would have darkened considerably.

He knew it was time to end them. The Prototype LMT slithered quickly back to the Blue Hands ship through the duct work. When he arrived he dropped out of the ceiling and blended into the floor and waited for his prey to arrive.

As the two walked stiffly down the docking connector they did not notice the floor turn silver and begin to rise. The blonde haired one had just finished punching in the pass code for his vessel when he heard steps behind him. Both Blue Hands turned around and looked at the intruder.

"Who are you"?

"You are not authorized to be here".

The man did nothing save the smirk crossing his face before he raised both arms and pointed one at each. The two Blue Sun agents stared at each other for a brief moment before the blonde pulled out his sonic weapon. When they turned back to him their faces showed shock at the sight in front of them.

The man's arms had turned silver and were reforming into something else!

The T-1000 smirked devilishly as his arms leapt out and speared the two in the chest, pinning them against the wall. He knew they weren't quite human, he had learned they had bionic enhancements and behavioral conditioning, but they were still easily killed.

He retracted his MPA, formed swords, and cut off both of their heads as they fell to their knees. After he killed them, he took on their clothing style, sans the gloves, and picked the sonic weapon up off the floor.

Such a weapon could come in handy.

He walked over the dead bodies and into their ship, stealing it, and heading out quickly into the black. He disabled the transponder and the navsat to prevent tracking, neither of which he needed since he was a machine. All he needed was the stars to guide him on his journey...

* * *

**A/N: I know, no John and Cameron. Live with it, next chapter is all about them.**

**Still working on how I will get everyone together, plus I'm trying to prepare myself to write the very complex Firefly characters**

**That will be a challenge for sure.**

**Thank you all for the support!**


	4. Now Leaving Planet Earth

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, writers block has hit me in full force**

**This chapter had been finished for a while but chapter 5 is **

**proving hard to write.**

**Thanks for the Reviews!**

**Chapter 4: Now Leaving Planet Earth**

**September 4, 2517 Denver Ruins: 12 pm local time**

For two days John and Cameron had been scouring through the ruins of Denver. They looked through intact buildings, which were few, during the day and sleeping under the stars at night. Well John did at least.

As they searched they noticed that plant life seemed to be returning to the once dead planet; shrubs, young trees, and even a few flowers dotted the landscape. Most of the skyscrapers built before 2050 had fallen to the ground, but the ones built after the new building codes were in place were more or less still intact. The same went for residential and industrial buildings.

"I don't know if this is the best place to look anymore". John said as he sat down with another protein bar.

"Yes, I think we need to move on". Cameron said while standing guard nearby.

"There's no one here honey, the planet's deserted".

"There could be wild animals John". She walked over to the chuck of concrete he was sitting on and sat down next to him. She took his hand and spoke softly to him. "Do you think that after everything that has happened that I am going to take that chance"?

He kissed her lightly before he answered her.

"No, I wasn't thinking about that, I'm sorry".

"Its okay". She smiled softly back to him, but John's face fell again into sadness.

"Yeah, not everything's okay though". He stood up and looked out into the ruins of the city.

There was silence for a minute or two before Cameron spoke.

"John, we need to talk".

He turned around and gave her a raised eyebrow as response.

"About what"?

"A lot of things, things that have happened in the last two weeks for example".

"That's a lot to talk about Cam. We've had your father and my predecessor arrive in this time, then I rescued Derek, Kyle, Andy, and Bethany. You rescued you're template and have been transformed twice now in that time period. Plus in the midst of all that we have Kara come out of nowhere and Derek taking a liking and eventually marrying her"!

He was yelling, not at her, but at the craziness of life instead.

"Now all of this happens just hours after I propose to you". He sat back down put his head in his hands.

"I know, what we need to talk about is our actions concerning the rescue of Bethany and Allison".

John sat back up confused for a second.

"Oh, you mean that we didn't bother to tell each other that we were risking our lives to play hero"?

"Yes".

"Yeah, we shouldn't have done that. We were acting like we used to, going off and doing things without really thinking about what others might want".

"Yes, and it was stupid on both our parts". She reached out and held his hand before she continued. "We need to learn how to be a team, and not like were on our own".

"We do, especially now".

"Definitely now". John said with a small chuckle before he became serious once more. "What are we going to do when find River"?

Cameron's face saddened and she averted her eyes from his.

"I don't know, I think it'll be a lot for her to take in, but I doubt she'd want to leave the only life she knows".

Tears were beginning to run down her face and her voice began to falter.

"We can't take Kara back, she's lived here too long to want to go back. I don't know about the T-1000".

John pulled her close to his side and began rubbing circles on her back.

"Yeah, that's what I think too, and I don't like the idea of leaving her anymore than you do".

Cameron shoved the emotions down deep like John did and wiped the tears away. She didn't have time to be sad right now, they had work to do.

"We need to get to work John".

"Alright, you going to be okay"?

"Yes John". She gave him a smile, but he knew it wasn't genuine. "We need a new strategy, the one were using is too inefficient".

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I think it would be a good idea to find out where the Lassiter was made".

"It was probably made in many places, different parts made in different factories, but only one puts it into its final package".

"Yeah, we should find out where one of those factories are, we might get lucky". John said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Lets...". Cameron stopped and took out her Lassiter. John didn't bother asking any questions until he was gripping his own weapon in his hands.

"What is it Cam"? She looked at him with the ghost of smile on her face.

"Wild dogs by the sound of it, we need to get you to higher ground". She said as John heard the faint barking in the distance. He looked around and decided that the roof of the house twenty feet from him would be good enough.

"Cameron, throw me up there, I'll cover you".

She didn't say anything as she picked him up and tossed him just enough to land on the roof. John stood up and scanned the area; the dogs were coming down road at a fairly rapid pace. Cameron herself opted not to get her clothing shredded so she jumped up onto the roof, just at the other end so she wouldn't risk a cave-in.

As the dogs came into viewing range John's eyes widened at their size, they were bigger than any dog he had ever seen!

"Uh, Cam? Is this high enough"?

"I don't know, put you're gun on auto and we wont have to find out". She said as she flicked the mode button and opened on the approaching pack. John followed suit and began cutting into the beasts with controlled bursts of fire.

"There's a lot of them"!

"32 remaining John"! She yelled back.

Some of the dogs had gotten smart and had circled around the house towards the back. The house had a deck made out of composite material not likely to degrade within the next thousand years so the hungry pack simply used it as a jumping point onto the roof.

Cameron was the first to notice the maneuver and she spun around to take out the dogs making almost Superman leaps onto the roof. John noticed out of the corner of his eye what was happening and spun around to assist. He took down a few of them, but more were coming up quick. One of them jumped at the same time as the one next to him at John. He managed to shoot the other one but not him. He could smell the food as he closed in on his prey and nearly went wild when he sank his teeth into it's arm!

Cameron saw what was happening and shot the thing just after it bit John. John himself gritted his teeth, but didn't cry out as he continued firing. She was finishing off the last ones when she heard the roof beginning to groan. Her eyes widened as she realized that the weight from all the bodies were too much for the ancient building.

"John"! She cried out as she rushed over to him. She quickly holstered her Lassiter and pulled John into hug as the roof gave way. When they hit the floor Cameron had broken the fall by making sure he was on top. John rolled off and groaned.

"Uhh, your not as soft as you look". He said right as he coughed to get more air into his lungs. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We should have had you interface with the drone, would've been a lot easier". He said as he got to his feet and she nodded in agreement when she handed him his dropped pistol.

"Huh, hardy weapon alright, not a scratch". John mused as he holstered the weapon. As he looked around the interior of the house he noticed still had a lot of stuff in it. It looked to be a military family by the dusty contents of the room he had fallen into. As he looked across the room he noticed a gun safe. John tilted his head a little when he spotted it, maybe there was something useful left behind so he went over and opened the damaged door.

Cameron was making sure all the wild dogs were dead when she heard John start laughing.

"What's so funny"? She asked with her head tilted. John reached in pulled something out of a gun safe. When he turned toward her she couldn't keep the amusement off her face.

In his hands was a military grade Lassiter. She smiled and took it as he calmed himself down. As she looked the weapon over she noticed that it was visually identical save for the engraved names and serial number, but this one had clearly seen use. She looked on the mantel of the fireplace and noticed a folded flag she did not recognize immediately due to its folded nature. As Cameron ran it through her database she noticed it was similar to the one that displayed itself on the Lt. scanner.

This was an early Alliance flag, probably given to the family after the death of the soldier.

"Does it work"? John asked curiously.

"I don't know, lets find out". She pushed the safety button for three seconds and the boot screen came on. After it ran through the diagnostics it reported that the power pack needed replaced, but the actual weapon was in decent working order.

"It seems to need a new power pack, this one is nearly depleted".

"Hold on a second, I think I saw something at the bottom..." John said as he turned around and began digging through the case. "Here we go". He said as he pulled out a new pack, fresh in its sealed package.

"Don't open it, it will be more valuable left in the package". John nodded and they left the house for the HK a block away. When they got their Cameron stowed the soldier's Lassiter and power pack before pulling out the med kit that Annika had left as part of the ration stack. John knew that as soon as they had gotten back she would be fussing over the wound, but he also knew how strong her desire was to protect him which is why he didn't argue. Half an hour later the bite was cleaned and bandaged and Cameron had given him a shot of immune boosters that apparently had infinite storage life if kept out of the sun.

They packed up the kit and decided to radio the ship while they could before she could orbit out of range.

"Captain Pudong, this is John Connor reporting in". Some static was heard over the line before a voice cut through it.

"Mr. Connor, I assume you have the package"?

"Yeah, and it's in working order too".

"HA, even better than the one Haymer found! We will have a shuttle sent down your location in twenty minutes, Pudong out".

John clipped the radio unit to his hip and looked back at his fiance.

"Ready to become an astronaut Cam"?

"No". She said flatly.

"Why not, I think it would be awesome to go into space".

"Maybe, but you're not thinking of all the risks were taking. Space being the biggest one, followed by the fact we'll be on a ship controlled by people whom we held hostage".

John's excitement sobered a bit and he nodded.

"Yeah, that's true, plus when we get to where were going there will probably be diseases I have no immunity to".

"That and we know nothing of the culture, hopefully we can utilize our time on the ship to learn about the Clarion system's cultures".

"Plus we need to know about the weapons they use, not just projectile weapons, but also energy, chemical, biological, and types we don't even know about".

"Yes, it seems we going back to school".

"You're getting good at that". John said with smile, but she looked at him with her head tilted.

"Getting good at what John"?

"Never mind". He finished with a chuckle.

* * *

Twenty minutes later a large shuttle landed on the ground about a hundred feet in front of them. A large door opened on the side, indicating the shuttle was meant for cargo transport.

Lt. Wong and Commander Serra walked out and greeted them.

"Good afternoon". The commander said flatly. "You have everything you need"?

"Yeah, just make sure you have room for the drone". John said as he showed her the booty they had found.

"Looks good, the captain will be pleased". She said as she looked the items over carefully. Then she looked at John's arm and their torn clothing.

"What happened to you two"?

"Wild dogs, about 50 of them. Things were bigger than any I've ever seen". John said while shaking his head.

"I bet that was fun, anyway, we need to get back, the ship is scheduled to break orbit in about two hours".

"Fine, I just need to get the HK inside, but it looks like were going to have to fold the rear wings". John said while eyeballing the hatches dimensions.

"We have to take the cargo containers off". Cameron said as she began to unstrap them. She carried the heavy containers into the shuttle as John prepped the HK to fly.

When John hopped on the machine and powered it up. As he did John noticed the two officers eyeing the machine curiously, or in Commander Serra's case, suspicion. He took off and folded the two rear engines back and slowly guided the machine into place before setting it down gently.

"Impressive for old tech". Lt. Wong said with a little surprise hidden in it. John chuckled a little bit at that statement. Skynet tech being outdated, how funny indeed.

"Yeah, but it does stuff I know you guys can't".

"True enough, we don't have a time machine...that we know of anyway". The lieutenant joked back. John just shook his head in annoyance while Cameron gave a small frown.

"Lets get going, we have a schedule to keep Lt."! Commander Serra scorned as she entered the shuttle and closed the door. Wong nodded and strapped himself into the pilots seat and began the start up sequence.

"Ever been in space before"? Serra asked as John strapped himself into another chair.

"No, can't say I'm really looking forward to it".

She laughed a little, which made Wong give her a curious look, she rarely did that.

"Yet you traveled through time how often"? John snorted as he gave his answer.

"Too often".

* * *

Once on board the Captain greeted them personally at the shuttle door.

"Welcome to the Interstellar Alliance Vessel Experiment _Sol_".

"Thank you Captain". John said as he entered the vessel and shook hands with him, while Cameron kept an eye on the guards that were with Pudong. He noticed and decided to put her fears to rest.

"Were not going to arrest you, not like we could anyhow. However I do expect you to follow the rules I set down for you on this ship".

"We will". John said before he changed topics. "We also need to discuss details". His authoritative voice impressed Pudong, and so he smiled.

"Yes we do, but not here. Also bring what I asked of you". Cameron went back inside for a brief moment and brought the weapon and power pack with her. The captain nodded and began walking down the curved corridor, Commander Serra to his right and Wong to his left with guards trailing behind John and Cameron. Pudong stopped at set of doors and hit a button on the wall. The doors slid open and they entered the room. The two guards in purple armor stood on both sides of the door. The senior staff was sitting at the oval table with the captain at one head with John and Cameron sitting close to him on the left.

"Alright, everyone here has been briefed on the situation concerning our two guests and the basic details surrounding their arrival, any questions before we begin"?

The chief engineer, Lieutenant-Commander Reed Freeman, spoke up.

"Yes, why are we bringing them aboard, more specifically the gynoid. She poses a huge risk sir".

"She does, but I made it a point to observe her before I came to this decision. She is more than she appears, but they are also the adoptive parents of the little girl that came through 16 years ago".

Now the chief medical officer, Doctor Michael Sanders, a friend of the Tams spoke up.

"My family and I had dinner with the Tams just before River left for that government funded school. Anyway I can't help but notice how similar the two look".

John answered the man instead of the captain.

"That's because she's supposed to, River has an alternate timeline counterpart. She was part of the human resistance against the machines, and adoptive daughter to the leader of that resistance. She was captured, interrogated, and her physical form copied and made into a cyborg. That cyborg's job was kill that leader, she failed and was reprogrammed to be his personal body guard. At the end of the war she was sent back in time to protect his younger self and stop the war from ever happening. Cameron is that cyborg, or was. Her old body was destroyed and her mind transplanted into this one".

"Fantastic story, if one can believe it". The doctor retorted.

"Honestly if hadn't lived it I wouldn't believe it".

Now the captain decided to intervene and get on with the discussion.

"Alright, any more questions that can't wait until were underway"? After a pause he continued. "Good, now we agreed on payment and I assume that's it". He said while pointing to the gun in Cameron's hands.

"Yes, the gun in good shape, but the power pack is bad. However we were able to find an extra one, sealed". She handed the soldier's Lassiter over to the captain along with the power pack. He looked it over for a minute while taking in the fact he now owned a nearly priceless artifact, not to mention it actually worked.

"This is nice find, where did you get it"?

"When we were attacked by dogs we took cover on the roof of a house, long story short it caved in from the weight and we found the weapon in a gun locker".

"Interesting, anyway..." He put the Lassiter down on the table and continued. "It will take us twelve days to cross twenty two light years at Warp 7 and get home. In that time you're going to have to learn our customs and laws, how to do things that normal people do. This is a military ship, which means we have obligations when we go home. Once we go planet side you're on your own, but not until you go through formal interviews with Parliament and sign confidentiality agreements. The punishment for breaking those are very severe so I suggest you don't do it. I don't know how much freedom they'll give you, but a meeting with Kara, and River shouldn't be hard, I don't know about the T-1000 though".

"If Kara came for him, It's probable he's with her or guarding River". Cameron stated with her head slightly tilted.

"Okay, so we'll be under lock and key pretty much, I get that, but lets make one thing clear. Cameron will not be examined or experimented on in any way. If you or your superiors try anything funny, things are liable to get dicey for them".

The captain didn't doubt him, but he also sensed that John still didn't know the extent of the Alliance's technology. In retrospect, however, he didn't know how advanced the tech in her was either.

"I can't promise anything, I am not my superiors, but if they do try anything I doubt they'll live long to regret it". He straightened his uniform as he stood and continued. "If there is nothing more for now, then we need to finish preparations for departure. Freeman, make sure the warp core is ready for maximum cruising speed, I don't want to drag out this trip anymore than necessary".

"Yes captain, I just need to run a final check on the warp coils in nacelle number 3 and then we should be ready to go".

"Good, Commander Serra, I want you to show these two to their quarters".

Cmd. Serra nodded to her captain and motioned for John and Cameron to follow her. After she had shown them their room and laid down the basic law of the land she had their containers brought to them.

"The drone will remain in the cargo bay under guard for the duration of the trip, as for your weapons... we would normally take those too, but since your girlfriend is one it doesn't really matter".

"Good point, anything else"? John said as his eyes continued to droop from exhaustion that Samantha could clearly see.

"No, have a good night's rest Mr. Connor". She turned around and walked away with her hands clasped behind her back. John shut the door and flopped down on the bed. He sat up and began to take off his boots. When he was completely undressed, save his briefs, he went into the small bathroom and took a shower while Cameron unpacked their stuff.

When he got out he found her standing not far from the door holding the plasma rifle as the ready. He climbed into bed and hoped she would follow, but she did not.

"Cameron, could you join me please"? A hint of need in his voice.

She looked at him for a second and realized that he needed something familiar, someone to feel safe, and that took precedence over her desire to stand guard.

"Yes John". She walked over to the other side of the queen sized bed and leaned the rifle on the nightstand and removed her clothing, save her undergarments. She wanted John to sleep, not get aroused. She placed her Lassiter on the nightstand just like John and climbed into bed. John tried to pull her close, but her weight was too much for him, so she shifted over until she was resting against him.

"Thanks, I know you want to keep me safe, but honestly I just need some normalcy right now". He said as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I understand". She paused for a beat to kiss him lightly on the lips. "I love you John".

"I know, and despite everything that's happened... It's enough for me that your still alive". He ran his fingers through her hair, feeling its familiar texture.

"It's the same for me". She stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb. "I do miss River John, I am sad that we lost the opportunity to raise her as our own, but as long as I have you, I can live with it". John saw a tear leak out of her eye and reabsorb at the bottom of her cheek. He searched for her hand and grabbed it. He found the ring and played with it a bit as he contemplated what to say next.

"I still want to get married, and I want to do soon". He crushed his lips into hers for a long passionate kiss and then breaking it off afterward. "I want to take our relationship to the next level, I want to be yours and you to be mine". He finished in as whisper as ran a finger across her lips.

"So do I John, but I am not sure I want to do it in this body, I don't know if I could feel it like I know I know could before".

John didn't want to know how she knew right now, he was trying to relax, not get aroused.

"Its okay, I'm not going to force you to do anything. Anyway I don't know who I'd want to marry us, I asked Ellison, but since he's gone... I don't want Pudong to marry us. I don't like him enough to give him that honor".

"I agree, however, he has been far more generous than I would be in his situation".

"Yeah, he's an explorer at heart, I can tell. He was curious about us when we had him bound on the floor, and when we released him he didn't fight like most would, he just continued to ask questions and learn".

"Sounds a lot like Star Trek". She mused.

"You watched that"?

"All 5 TV shows, all the movies, including the new one". She paused for a beat before they said in unison. "I don't sleep". John chuckled a little after they did.

"Yeah, funny how much of that tech was actually made it into reality".

"Yes, warp drive, shuttles, starships, communicators, energy weapons, antimatter weapons to name a few".

"I thought it was weird that they call it warp drive though, wasn't that made up"? John asked with confusion written on his face.

"No, warp drive was an actual theory. However I am surprised at how similar this ship is to the ones in the TV show".

"Yeah, well maybe we'll get a tour tomorrow". He said through a yawn and closed his eyes. "Good night Cam".

"Good night John".

Minutes later he was asleep. As he slumbered Cameron continued to think of every possible thing that could go wrong on this journey, and it only made her worry more about him when she realized she didn't have enough information to accurately predict ways out of them. She decided to stop worrying for now as she turned off her HUD and pressed her ear against his chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat.

* * *

The next morning John and Cameron were given a tour of the ship led by Commander Serra since the captain was busy preparing the jump to warp. They had asked why they didn't do that overnight and the Commander simply said that the effects it would have being close to earth would not be good. What they do is they head out at a top sub-light speed of .25 _c_ for twelve hours and put a good distance between them and the recovering planet. She showed them engineering, but only under the guard of ten Alliance soldiers. When they got near the warp core, John let out a low whistle of amazement.

"Not quite what I pictured, but it's pretty amazing". John said while Cameron used every sensor available to examine the heart of the ship. It was similar in look to the ones portrayed in Star Trek. It had a spherical center where the Octavium crystal sat suspended by two arms made of the same material. The tube of the core extended down and up so that it was nearly the diameter of the secondary hull. Another separate tube went straight back from the reaction chamber and split into a T shape to go into the three warp nacelles. (The third had been added after the second tour to boost top speed to Warp 7, it sat 90 from the others along the vertical axis of the ship). Various smaller plasma conduits branched off the horizontal part to fuel the main systems of the ship, including the weapons, life support, and the navigational defector. The ion engines could power everything save for the warp drive and and rear weapons systems.

John was a tech geek and understood the basics, but some of the physics behind the warp drive itself were mind boggling. Cameron took it all in and even began finding ways to improve it, though she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want them to know just how smart she was.

Once the tour was over they went into the mess hall to grab some breakfast. Afterward John and Cameron requested access to the cultural database so they could learn about their destination.

This is where they would spend their time for the next twelve days, but before they did they were invited onto the bridge for the jump to warp speed.

"This is the bridge, not quite what you'd expect from seeing those ancient science fiction movies, but it's functional". Commander Serra said as they walked onto the main bridge, located on the top deck of the primary hull. The bridge was a full circle about two stories high with one big window that slanted back from the lower part of the bridge and ending a few feet in front of the turbo shaft elevator exit. The bridge had two levels, the upper one where the commander of the vessel stood was like an cliff ledge that stuck out into the center of the circular space. One the same level as the captains perch was navigation to the left and ops to the right. Between the two stations and the captain's perch was a ramp that led down to the lower level of the bridge where communications, weapons control, engineering console, and the science stations.

"Pudong to Engineering, are we ready to engage at warp"?

"Yes sir, ready at your command".

"Good, Lt. Wong, engage at Warp 7".

"Aye sir". He said as he shut down the ion drive and laid in the course. He put his hand on the throttle and pushed it forward.

John and Cameron watched in fascination as the light coming in through the large forward window became distorted and it appeared as if the hull had suddenly been stretched in strange ways. The ship began to accelerate at enormous speeds as it broke past the speed of light and continued to climb the warp scale. The view changed to one where the stars seems blurred and streaked, John thought it looked pretty darn cool.

"What do you think"? The captain asked the two.

"I think we're going to like the future". John said with a grin.

* * *

**September 17, 2517 : 9 am ship time. **

The trip had gone fairly fast for both John and Cameron. They spent most of their time going through terabytes worth of data learning about the star systems and customs. They also memorized different weapons and ship classes along with what they were typically used for. The Unification war was something both spent some time on and they realized that the Alliance wasn't any better than governments of their time, in fact, John thought some of it was worse.

As the trip was coming to a close, only about ten minutes outside of the outer rim of the Clarion system. They were going to drop out of warp before they reached the system lest someone detect the massive power signature the warp drive. Pudong asked John and Cameron to join him on the bridge so they could see his and the crews home for real and now they were standing just behind him as they prepared to drop out of warp.

About 7 minutes later the ship began to shudder and shake, only a little at first but it soon became violent.

"Engineering report"! Pudong yelled through the comm as the shaking continued. He had to hold onto the console in front of him to keep from falling off while his two guests had taken hold of the rear consoles by the elevator.

"The nacelle no. 3's warp coils have fallen out of alignment! We need to eject the nacelle or it will end up space dust"!

"Shut the warp drive down"!

"I can't! The plasma feed won't shut off, and if we eject the nacelle now it will bleed off most of the plasma, causing power loss to the navigational deflector".

Captain Pudong knew that loosing the navigational deflector would mean micrometeorites punching holes in his ship going at FTL speeds.

"Why can't we shut off the plasma flow"?

"The controls are damaged, the vibrating is what caused it"!

While they argued out solutions, John had thought up one himself.

"Cam, can you do it"? She tilted her head as she pondered the question for a brief second.

"Yes" She turned from him and walked up to the captain. "I can shut it off manually, I know no human could survive the environment during warp speed, but I can".

He looked at her for a second before nodding.

"I know where to go, prepare to eject the nacelle". She went into the turbo lift with John and they left for engineering.

"Be careful please"? He said with worry in his voice. She nodded and kissed him on the lips as the doors slid open.

They walked over to the engineer who briefed her on what needed to be done, she acknowledged him and deactivated the MPA sheath. She stripped her clothes off and handed them to John while everyone else in the room gaped at the black machine with glowing green accents. Cameron paid them no heed as she began climbing up the pylon access tube.

Cameron climbed as fast as she could up the tube as the shaking grew worse, she had to shut off the plasma feed before the ship tore itself apart or the pylon ripped off the ship, and rupturing the main plasma conduit going up through it. She continued to climb even as electrical conduits shorted out and sent sparks raining down on her, but they did not faze her as she climbed rung after rung of the ladder.

As she neared the top it became harder for her to move up without being thrown around, but she made it to the valve that would shut off the plasma flow, and sure enough the electrical conduits going to the switch had been torn out. Luck for her the switch still had power and only the control and sensory connections were severed. She decided that it was time to test the nano-technological transjectors she had so Cameron extended the drill from her right index finger and plunged it into the connector housing.

She quickly realized she didn't have much longer before the ship shook apart so she took over the foreign system as fast as she possibly could. She saw the electrical layout of the box displayed on her HUD and she quickly engaged the shutoff.

A loud hum was heard as the plasma flow was cut to the nacelle and the shaking stopped. Cameron took a look around and noticed micro fractures forming in the pylon hull plating and the structural integrity of the frame was down to unsafe levels according to her calculations, but that only applied to FTL speeds. As she climbed down, however, she took a closer look at the wires that were torn from the control box housing.

They had been torn alright, but not from the flexing of the structure; they had been designed to take that. They had been tampered with so that when the ship had begun vibrating they would tear loose. This was sabotage, and she'd bet money that the warp coils showed tapering as well.

There was someone on this ship who didn't want them to make it home in one piece...

When Cameron exited the tube the captain, first mate, chief engineer, and John were both standing there waiting. Cameron took her clothes and put them on as her sheath activated. The captain spoke up first when she finished.

"Thank you for that, if you hadn't we'd all be dead right about now".

"Your welcome, however, the damage done was quite extensive".

"Alright, meet me in the conference room in twenty minutes". He turned around promptly and continued to survey the damage and find out what the hell had happened. Meanwhile John embraced her in a tight hug before he kissed her.

"Saved me again, what would I do without you". He said with a pirate grin.

"I don't know". She gave him a small grin of her own. "John, I think we might have a problem". Her face turned dead serious.

* * *

When Pudong, Cmd. Serra, Chief Engineer Freeman, Cameron, and John were in the briefing room Pudong gave the report.

"We sustained damage ship wide, we have thirteen plasma conduit ruptures, micro-fractures in the nacelle, and plenty of fried electrical systems. We do have the capacity to repair most of the damage, however we need to set down within the next hour or we might lose the ion drive". The captain opened in a grime voice.

"How did the warp coils get out of alignment? I checked them personally right before we jumped to warp and they were in perfect working order"! Freeman yelled angrily, he could lose his job because of this.

"I don't think they did it on their own, I think the coils were sabotaged". Cameron spoke up.

"How would you know that"? Cmd. Serra said in an accusatory tone.

"I saw the condition of the plasma shut off valve's control box. The wires and connectors are meant to survive such flexing, but the ones I saw were tampered with and they tore out when the ship began to shake".

"Huh, that would explain things, but if that's the case, who is the saboteur"? Freeman asked in the direction of Pudong who was currently in deep thought.

"I don't know, but maybe someone on this ship doesn't want our time traveling guests entering the Clarion system".

"Government agent"? Cmd. Serra asked. "It's possible I guess, it's happened before".

"Agent or not, we haven't broken any laws, orders, nor regulations so what premises would he have to destroy us"? Pudong said in confusion.

"I'm at a loss too, but what are you going to do next"? John said as he put his arm around his fiance.

"We land, we can't ask for help from the normal military or anyone else for that matter. However the closest system is Burnam, and passing through that system poses heavy risks".

Several of the crew members shivered in fear, John and Cameron recalled something about space pirates called Reavers inhabiting this area.

"Yeah, we read about the rumors, they rape people to death...? It sounded like a bunch bull but considering who my fiance is and how I came to be in this situation I can believe almost anything". John said to the room of clearly worried people.

"The Reavers are real alright, my brother found out the hard way. Although the Alliance considers them a myth, almost like they want to ignore they exist". The captain mused as he rubbed his chin. "The Reavers are known to concentrate their forces around the Burnham protostar".

All of a sudden the conversation was interrupted by Lt. Wong calling over the comm.

"Captain, you need to get up here immediately".

"On my way". Pudong said as he ran out of the room with everyone following on his footsteps. Soon they were all on the bridge to find out what was going on.

"Report"! Pudong said as he took his post.

"Were nearing the Burnham protostar captain, but there's an unknown terraformed planet orbiting it, one not in our charts or data banks".

"Not in our data banks? That's not right, there's supposed to be a planet there. We passed it on our first journey out, really nice colony too, I never heard anything about it again though".

"Well it's not in our data banks anymore, and more importantly, there's no life signs on the planet. However there is a large amount of wreckage between the planet and the sun".

"Any active ships"?

"No sir, it looks like they all took up and left. Not long ago either, maybe three hours". Wong finished as he continued to run active scans.

"That's peculiar, look at some of the wrecked ships".

"They look like Reaver ships". Cameron said flatly as she tilted her head. "This is their home".

"That would make sense sir, the majority of the attacks happen in the Blue Sun system, Burnham is at the edge of it".

"So we have a dead planet that has been erased from the data banks and the operating base of the Reavers. Sounds a little coincidental".

"It does". John said as suspicion crawled into his mind.

Just then the communications officer spoke up.

"Sir! Were picking up a broad wave sent out on all frequencies, priority one override"!

"Play it"! The captain said while running purely on his gut feeling when he said it.

A feminine voice filled the bridge and as a hologram of a woman appeared out in the middle of the bridge, all stopped to watch it.

"_These are just a few of the images we've recorded..."_

* * *

**A/N: I don't know when the next update will be, The writers block is infuriating.**

**The hardest part is deciding how to write the main cast of Firefly. To me they are far harder to write than those of TSCC.**

**Well we'll see how it goes.**

**Reviews welcome as always!**


	5. The Plot Thickens

**A/N: Sorry for the month and a half delay,**

**been busy as hell and my muse is cutting in and out **

**lately.**

**Next Chapter will introduce the Firefly main cast.**

**Chapter 5: The Bringer Of Death... And Life**

**September 17, 2517 Blue Sun System **

The T-1000 was cruising toward Serenity's next destination, a moon in the Blue Sun system. He had access to this information because he had been hacking the Operative's signals to and from other ships in the area searching for Serenity. The Operative had sent out a highly coded transmission, one only someone like him could hack, to certain Alliance ships within the Blue Sun system and told them to meet at Ferdinand's Moon, a terraformed rock that served as a Cortex transmission node for most of the Blue Sun system. The Operative was in charge of finding and killing his charge, and he had to make sure that didn't happen. However, space was a big place and Serenity had proven harder to track after the incident with Early.

Now he was faced with a challenge he wasn't sure he, nor River, were going to come out of alive.

An entire fleet against his lightly armed ship and a transport ship without weaponry at all, the odds were low alright, be he had a mission to accomplish. He had to protect River.

As he neared the ion cloud surrounding the moon he activated the cloaking system to prevent sensors from picking him up, however, it wasn't a visual cloak, just one built for fooling sensors and targeting systems. He also powered up the weapon systems too, even though he doubted they would be much use.

The sleek, dark metallic ship shaped like a horseshoe plunged into to stormy blue ion cloud and T-1000 prepared to engage the enemy hoping that he wasn't too late.

When he broke through the ion cloud layer he tilted his head at the sight before him.

Reavers were battling the Alliance? Strange coincidence that so many were in the same place, usually only one big ship was sent out for raiding parties. As he got closer he realized what had happened when the sensors picked up a Firefly-class transport heading for the surface.

He knew it had to be Serenity; he accelerated towards the raging space battle between two different evils. He was fortunate for his vessel's speed and size, not to mention it's maneuverability as he dodged missiles and wreckage. He fired a few salvos at smaller Reaver vessels as he plunged for the planets atmosphere.

Just as The T-1000 cleared the battle he noticed that Serenity had a tail, a Reaver ship hell bent on catching up with it. At this point he noticed the transport was gliding in for a landing, definitely not a good thing, but they had lost the Reaver ship temporarily.

He watched from miles up as they slid into the hanger with the Reavers once again closing the gap. The prototype LMT knew that people were going to get hurt if they engaged the Reavers, and he had to protect River.

He came in for a landing just behind the Reaver vessel, he noticed that it was empty. He felt fear run through his nanite network at the thought of the crew fending off the Reavers in Serenity. Close quarters is not something a human could endure when fighting a Reaver.

He, on the other hand, was designed for it. He ran down the ramp of his ship and toward the wrecked transport, blades drawn. He jumped down to the lower levels and ran up the Firefly's cargo bay ramp. No one was there, not a single life sign was emanating from the battered hulk.

He ran up to the upper deck to make sure, even all the way to the bridge. These old transports had a plethora of hiding spots and some might be able to disguise life signs. When he got on the bridge he met a gruesome sight, the pilot that he had seen on Ariel had a large spike through his chest, destroying part of his lungs, diaphragm, stomach, and maybe even his heart. It did not pierce the seat all the way and it had missed his spine.

The T-1000 decided on a whim to do the man a favor, something a normal machine never did, but since pilot had unknowingly given him the best lead he had he would give him back his life if he could.

The T-1000 cut the spike in half and pulled Hoban Washburne out his chair. He set him on the ground and pulled out the spike while simultaneously filling the void with MPA. It closed off all the blood vessels and sealed the punctured lungs while bridging the diaphragm and making him breathe. The liquid metal also began to make his heart pump to get oxygen to his deprived brain and it sealed the punctured stomach and reattached the esophagus. That had taken roughly 20 seconds from cutting the spike to getting his heart and patched lungs going. He strung some of his MPA into the ships power lines so they could keep him alive while he searched for the rest of the crew.

On his way out he made sure to lock the door to the bridge, just in case. He ran out of the bay and towards the growling and roaring sounds that were mixed in with gunfire down the corridor in front of him.

As he slithered down one of the upper ventilation shafts, he noticed the gunfire had quieted and only the roaring and growling of the Reavers remained. Fear filled him as the possibility emerged that the mad beasts had overtaken them. He rushed forward to the edge of the vent, noting the destroyed grill, and looked out into the room below.

What he saw nearly shut him down.

River was fighting twenty Reavers...with only a battle ax and broad sword... and she was _winning!_

He, a Terminator made of liquid metal, felt awe and a little jealously at the graceful and fluid strikes she was making. If she could make those as a human... she could be the most dangerous terminator that ever existed. It was like she could sense the presence of the monsters as they went in for the attack, her mind was focused on one thing and one thing only; kill all threats. Her face reminded him of a terminator, blank save a few moments of brief expression here and there.

He ended those trains of thought and prepared to go help her, but before he did he realized he would only serve to distract her. She also might see him as a threat too, she didn't know him. The T-1000 decided that he would help fend off reinforcements he could hear landing outside. He took one last look, noticing just 10 remained, and slithered away in his silver snake form.

He ran up the ramp of the ship to take the pilot back to his ship, just in case he needed to make a rapid departure. He ripped the bridge doors open and picked the blonde man up and checking his vitals. His heart was pumping on its own now, but the respiratory system was still on life support. The T-1000 ran out of Serenity with the pilot in his arms and retreated back to his ship not far from the Reaver ship. He ran up the ramp and put him in one of the seats, strapped him in and made sure the separate part of himself was attached to a power source. He ran out of the ship and closed the doors to prevent the rapidly approaching Reavers from getting to Washburne.

Strangely enough the Reavers ignored him, and continued on down the hanger, where he could see Alliance troops preparing to break through the concrete wall.

Reavers were priority, and they were closer. The LMT turned his arms into swords and sprinted forward. He lunged at the two Reavers farthest back and speared them through the back and out their chest. He flipped himself over them and they followed before centrifugal force flew the two off as the terminator landed on his feet. The deranged men stopped and turned to face their new enemy. He responded by cutting two heads off in a swiping X motion and dodged a pistol shot. He then shot his arm through the offender and then another next to him. As they gathered in tighter around him like he expected he stuck his sword arms out and did quick 360 spin, resulting in fifteen heads rolling on the floor.

As he looked up from his work he noticed that the Alliance troops were gathering on the lower levels, preparing to breech the concrete wall. He slid along the floor as the squad stood there ready to kill River and her crew mates. He sneaked up behind them and stayed on the floor, but had nubs on his body ready to turn into spears the moment they tried to pull the trigger.

_"Stand down... stand down... it's finished... we're finished". _

The voice of the Operative came over the comm and the T-1000 knew the crew had somehow broke him, his charge was now safe.

(He had done a lot of research on the man and his kind, The T-1000 had plenty of time on his hands in the past few months)

Now he had to get the hell out of there before anyone noticed him in his silver form. He slithered as fast as he could while avoiding the increasing amount of troops assembling. He got to the upper level and saw Alliance shuttles landing by the dozens, he had to get out before it got too crowded or he might be discovered.

The T-1000 got back to the ship, opened the ramp a just a little, and slid inside before closing it. He took his form in the pilot's seat and powered up the craft.

The Alliance troops noticed the ship, but with the transponder code he was now transmitting. They would not bother him unless they ran the code thoroughly through the database to realize it was a fake. He shot off at high speed away from that place, but he did not leave the moon. He shot off into space and headed for Persephone.

He would meet up with Serenity there when was repaired and it's crew healed. From what he was picking up on the Cortex most of them had been injured save River and the Companion, Inara Serra. He also realized that everyone thought the recovering pilot next to him was dead.

However, Hoban Washburne was recovering better than he expected and would be fully healed in a week or so once he got the necessary medical supplies to keep him hydrated and nourished.

T-1000 knew that the blonde pilot would be fully healed long before most of his crew mates would be, but he didn't want to risk exposing himself while the crew was on Persephone. No, he would wait until the ship relaunched and he could meet them in the black. He wanted his nature kept secret as long as possible...

As he was leaving the moon behind he ran a sensor sweep of the area in the Blue Sun system. As he looked over the results of the scan he frowned at the large energy trail that the Reavers had left behind, going back all the way to a planet that wasn't supposed to exist. He got curious and decided to get a closer look, plus he wanted to know why the crew of Serenity had been in the heart of Reaver territory in the first place...

* * *

Half an hour later the small ship was nearing the planet and he took a sensor sweep. The T-1000 looked over the large debris field, now completely devoid of Reavers, and the normal terraformed planet beyond it. As he read the sweeps results he noticed a separate ion trail leading toward the planet _from deep space..._

The trajectory suggested that it had come from Earth.

In all likely hood it was probably the _I.A.V.X. Sol, _but why had it landed on the planet? Had it sustained damage? He decided he didn't want to find out if anyone knew who and what he was, it would be a crew man on board that ship.

He began to lay in a new course for Persephone so he could pick up medical supplies as he checked on his patient's condition.

_"Healing as predicted..."_ He thought to himself when suddenly the ship was rocked by an explosion.

It wasn't a large one granted, but it was close enough. The T-1000 took the controls and swung the ship around in a U-turn. He thought it might be a Reaver ship that was hiding in the debris field, but it wasn't, it was just a wreck that had something unstable in it and the payload had finally blown.

He was about to continue his original course when numerous warning lights came on and diagnostics began running across the screens. The small ship had taken a hit in the aft section of horseshoe shaped hull and had punctured the deuterium tank. At this rate of loss he would be out before he could make it anywhere but the planet in the distance.

It was his only option if he didn't want to freeze in the cold of space...

* * *

**One hour earlier... **

After the message ended the bridge was in absolute silence. Nobody knew what to say.

The government they swore to serve and protect had betrayed them, the people, in the worst way possible.

They used them as laboratory guinea pigs and then covered up their mistake when it went horribly wrong, and like many others in the verse who watched the message, they wondered how many other times the Alliance had experimented on humans and if it was happening right now.

For the crew of the Sol, they knew what had been broadcaster was true. All the evidence that anyone could ever want was right in front of them.

A planet able to support human life was devoid of it, and the evidence of Reavers was damning for any argument the government might have.

"So, this is the great Alliance you serve". John said darkly as he stared out the window at the planet of 30 million graves.

The captain bowed his head in shame before answering the time traveling teenager.

"Yes, it is". Pudong said in a voice that didn't hide his shame nor his anger.

Meanwhile Samantha Serra looked devastated. The normally stoic commander was near tears as her body shook ever so slightly from the emotions surging through her. Her hands clenched into fists repeatedly. She turned around and left the bridge without another word while everyone just stared off into space, save Cameron as she processed what had taken place, but she noticed the commanders reaction and found it strange. She would ask John about it later.

After a minute or two they snapped out of it and quickly resumed their job of landing the damaged ship.

"This is unbelievable, if the proof wasn't in front of me I wouldn't believe it". Pudong was more than a little angry, he knew governments weren't perfect and did things that weren't always right, but this was more than a little out of line. They had tried to make people better, and it had cost 30 million people their lives and unleashed a horrible force on the system.

They would pay the price of such a violation, he would see to it personally. For now he had to focus on finding that agent and repairing the ship, he also knew that the Alliance would be expecting them back soon, but since warp technology could be finicky at times the date was never set in stone.

Then he realized that if they disappeared long enough they might think them dead, and that was just fine with him. However he still had a crew who would want to return to their families and that would only alert the Alliance.

They had been gone for nearly three years now, everyone who had taken this journey had no close family, or if they did they were distant and rarely interacted. People asked fewer questions in those cases. Maybe he could convince these people to stay on board.

"Sir, were landing near what appears to be the Capitol City, they don't have a landing pad big enough so were setting down on near by farm land".

Wong had broken him out of his thoughts as the ship glided through the planet's, Miranda was it's name, atmo and were about to land.

"Good, take us down extra gently, and don't vent to the outside yet, keep us sealed in until we do detailed scans of our surroundings". He walked over to the man's station and looked at the destination before he went down to the science officer and began going over every scan they had to make sure the planet was safe to venture out into. He didn't want his crew to suffer the same fate as those people.

Meanwhile John and Cameron had taken their exit and headed back to their room to talk the days busy events over.

As the door slid shut and John collapsed on the bed from mental exhaustion, Cameron looked worried about the current situation and was not comfortable with the risks of a saboteur on board coupled with the obvious ones of being on Miranda.

"Well, that was not how I was expecting to spend my first moments in a new star system".

"Neither did I". She sat down on the bed and and placed a hand on his arm. "But we've been in worse situations, we'll get through it John".

"Yeah, It's just, so much has happened in so little time. This just compounds the issue".

"It does, but that does not change what we set out to do".

"No it doesn't, but we have to be careful now that the Alliance has shown it's true colors. If they get a hold of you..." John didn't even want to finish that thought.

Cameron didn't much like the perspective either, which is why kissed him reassuringly on the cheek.

"I know".

He pulled her down and wrapped his arms around her lithe form and let his tired eyes droop. She rubbed her hands through his short, spiky hair and hummed a little to help him sleep.

They stayed that way for about half an hour before someone chimed at the door. John jumped awake but didn't go very far considering he was still holding a 300 pound Cameron.

"I'll get it". She said softly as she got up. When she opened the door she found the captain on the other side of it.

"Yes captain"?

"I need to speak to you both about a rather...urgent matter". His face was strained and his voice tentative, something she didn't like. Cameron stood aside and he walked in. John got out of bed and straightened his clothing.

"What's going on"? John said with weariness creeping into his still young voice. The captain just grimaced and handed him a portable data pad.

"I did some research on you daughter and Kara, you're not going to like what I found".

As they scrolled through the data their faces became saddened as they read about Kara's 'death', but turned to horror when they read about the experiments that were performed on River and what they had tried to accomplish with their human guinea pig.

Pudong saw tears once again stream down the machine's face while John's jaw muscle pulsed and his green eyes burned anger. Pudong himself was not pleased with what he had found, his government not only experimented on populated planets, but little girls as well. He was about to apologize when Lt. Wong called for him over the comm.

"Sir, we have an unidentified long distance shuttle craft heading into the atmosphere on an intercept course".

"Are they arming weapons"?

"No, they're leaking deuterium fuel, who ever they are their trying to keep themselves from crashing".

"I'm on my way".

He gave one last sympathetic look to the couple as he walked out the door. Years later he would swear that he heard Cameron sobbing out loud as the door swooshed shut.

As he entered the bridge he brought up the image of the craft on his console viewer.

"Looks like a Blue Sun design". He observed softly.

"It is, I looked it up on the Cortex. I don't know it's capabilities due to the fact we would have to log in with out credentials". Lt. Smith said while scrolling through the data logs.

"I would guess it's has a warp field generator though, the shape would indicate it". Pudong said while noting its unusual shape. "Faster sub-light travel without the effects of time dilation". He pondered a little longer as he scanned over its trajectory and noted that it was trying to land near them, and succeeding despite the fuel loss. That had to be one heck of a pilot.

Pudong looked around and noticed that Commander Serra was not on the bridge, which was strange. However he knew she was extremely dedicated to the Alliance, she had always believed that it was the best government to date, and the revelation that it wasn't had to have been shattering to say the least.

He had no idea.

He didn't ponder on the Commander for long since the ship would be landing very soon and they didn't know if those on board were hostile or not.

"Prepare a security squad, fully armored and armed. I also want target lock on that ship to be on the safe side".

The crew responded and scrambled as the ship approached, although sensors showed that the ship was rapidly losing power. Despite the rapid power loss, the ship landed smoothly about 100 yards from their's.

The security team took the mag lift down to the surface heavily armed and in full armor. They slowly approached the deep purple, horseshoe shaped transport, weapons at the ready as the exit ramp lowered out of the ship and touched the ground. A few seconds later a man with brown hair and blue eyes came out carrying an unconscious one in his arms.

The man took in his surroundings, seemingly ignoring the security team and focusing more on the _Sol. _After ten seconds or so he turned to the man at point and spoke in raspy tone.

"I need to speak to your captain... now".

* * *

John held his fiance' as her emotions poured out in steady streams of liquid metal tears, he himself had some trickling down his face after reading the report the captain had given them moments before.

The anger he now held for the Alliance could not be quantified, it could not be measured.

John Connor wanted revenge...

He broke himself out of his dark thoughts and concentrated on Cameron, who was still sobbing her heart out.

"Shhhh... Cam". He lifted her chin with his finger and stared into her tear filled eyes.

"Why"? She said in grief filled sob. "Why does it always have to happen to us? To our family"?

John pulled her closer and laid her head down on his shoulder.

"I don't know, I really don't, but that doesn't mean we can't fight for a better future. Hell that's what were good at"! John said with a soft chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a little. He was rewarded when he felt her lips curl into a small smile for him.

"So it seems". Cameron said as she let the sounds of his beating heart and the air rushing through his lungs remind her that he was still there for her. John rubbed small circles on her back in an attempt to calm her, it didn't have the same effect it would have in her old body. Only the fact that he was right there with her kept her from going hysterical.

It was times like these that she wished she didn't feel emotions at all. The mother who had lost her child told her fiance' as much.

"I know, but that is the price we pay, but it better love and lose it than never have it at all".

She pondered that for a while, debating whether feeling nothing again would actually be a smart idea. But one look into John's eyes, and seeing the love in them solved that little debate instantly. She remembered all they had shared over the past few months together, yeah, it was definitely worth it.

"It is". She responded simply as he continued to hold onto her.

They stayed like that until the comm buzzed for them.

"John and Cameron, please report to surface. There is someone down here you know".

Both looked at each other momentarily before strapping their weapons back on.

"Who do you think it is"? He asked her while checking the weapon's status.

"I don't know, but the highest probability is that it's T-1000".

She noticed John's jaw muscles begin to pulse once more, but she wasn't quite sure why. Sometimes human emotions, even those of ones she knew the best, still confused her. She pushed the conundrum out of her thought processes and focused on John's security for the moment. After all, there was a saboteur on board.

The walked down the ship's curved corridor with purpose, both man and cyborg strode towards the grav lift that would take them to the surface with steely determination on their faces.

They stepped onto the lift cautiously and Cameron eyed the operator with suspicion for a moment before nodding in consent. John watched with mild interest at the futuristic device as it slowly lowered them to the surface of the dead planet. After small circular lift powered down, John walked with his fiance' hand in hand as they approached the Captain and his security team. Oddly enough there was a medical team carrying a blonde haired man on a stretcher toward one of the cargo lifts.

"John, Cameron, I believe you know this... machine"?

John's eyes narrowed and jaw clenched as he saw the T-1000 walk out from behind Pudong, he was dressed differently than John remembered, but what really caught the teen's eye was the expression on the LMT's face, one of surprise that quickly gave way to anger and shame.

John's eyebrows went into overdrive trying understand, and one look at Cameron confirmed it.

He was a free machine now, as free as Cameron or Weaver had ever been.

"John Connor, I see you made it through in one piece". The machine said in his southern drawl as his face lost all traces of emotion.

Humor, how unlike him, but then again they really hadn't met the T-1000 without restrictions before.

"Yeah, we did". He responded coldly as he crossed his arms. He noticed the LMT was eyeing Cameron curiously.

"Annika left her a new body, at Crystal Peak". The machine darted his eyes back to John for a second to acknowledge what he said.

"A modified TX-2, I assume Annika rebuilt it". He said as he looked over her new body with his limited sensor abilities.

"Yes". Cameron said simply as she continued her detailed scans of the machine, taking note of the new nanites in his body.

John stepped up to the machine with his glare still in place as he drilled his emerald eyes into the T-1000's.

"Where is River"? He said slowly through clenched teeth. John watched a series of emotions cross his face before he answered.

"You mean why didn't I protect her"? No one could miss the remorse in his voice. John backed the glare off a bit as Cameron stood next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. The LMT let out a human like sigh and began telling his story.

"I was offline when after I safely parachuted to the surface, her wounds were fully healed. When I had sufficient energy to reboot she was gone, Karah had taken her back with her on the _Sol,_ but she left me a message and set my mind free. For six years I waited for her return while thinking about my freedom and restored memories. In the end I realized that joining with you was the only way to maintain it, regardless of what we had done in our pasts. She came back and froze me for transport back here since I did not have the ability to hid myself from their scans. I was not reactivated until the day River broke out of the Academy with her adoptive brother. I have been tracking them and protecting them from a distance since".

"She's okay is what you're saying". John said as he mulled the story over in his head. It matched up with what little details they knew, but that honestly wasn't much.

"Yes, for now. I couldn't approach her when I saw her, she doesn't know me and I didn't want to distract her during the battle".

"The battle"? John and Cameron's eyes widened in fear when they heard that.

"Yes, thanks to the Academy she can handle herself better than any human I know, I had to leave when more troops arrived after the battle, I took the pilot of the ship she has been living on since her escape. I managed to revive him and I came here to find out where the Reavers had come from, that's when my ship was damaged and I detected you during the decent".

John stared at him for a second before he spoke.

"Where is River now"?

"On her way to Persephone with the rest of her crew and their damaged ship. They broadcast they sent out convinced the government operative hunting them to help them out instead".

Everyone who head what the T-1000 said had shock come across their faces.

"They sent that out"? Pudong said with his eyebrows raised and eyes wide.

"I see she's just like her twin, always causing trouble".

"She's psychic too". He added which caused another round of incredulous looks, but Pudong recovered quickly and told them to reconvene in the briefing room in ten minutes to finish this discussion privately.

Two hours later and after both sides had shared their stories, they started planning a course of action.

"We need to intercept them after they leave the planet, we don't want to risk exposing ourselves. We have the best sensors in the fleet and our sensor scrambling device can be reconfigured to block scans from all ships and planetary sensor nets, but we still have to be careful not to be seen visually". Pudong said before turning to the T-1000. "Your ship can be repaired, we can use it and our shuttles to land and get supplies".

"Agreed". Cameron said as she looked over the tactical information on the Alliance fleet and full one on the _Sol._

"I makes sense to me". John said, he didn't know combat and stealth procedures for starships, it wasn't something that his mother had thought of.

"How long will repairs take on the _Sol__?_" The T-1000 asked.

"About three weeks, the microfractures are worst in the pylon/nacelle juntion, but they extend down the whole pylon. Plus we still have a saboteur to find".

The T-1000 smirked slightly as his body turned silver. "Leave that to me".

With a shape shifter on board, anything was possible.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, been busy and my muse just returned to me. Don't expect a new chapter very soon, school and my car are both keeping me busy.**

**I hope the things I did in this chapter were feasible. If not, tell me people, I can't improve without feed back!**


	6. On Your Feet

**A/N: Here we are, the Firefly Cast is now apart of the story.**

**I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with my portrayal of certain characters in this chapter.**

**READ AND REVIEW, and of course **

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 6: On Your Feet**

**September 17, 2517, 9 pm _Sol_ ship time**

As Hoban Washburne returned to consciousness he felt as if he been run over by an Alliance Cruiser, his head hurt, his chest felt like he had been speared, his joints ached, and it hurt to breathe.

He opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. His ears, however, were perfectly fine. He heard the beeping of what he recognized as a heart monitor and medical related devices he remembered from his days in the service.

Wait a minute, Alliance equipment, Alliance uniforms... that means he was on an Alliance vessel!

Crap, they must have been captured!

He began to worry about his crew mates, but his wife and River most of all.

His memory was still a little fuzzy, he recalled something about an orbital battle above Universe's moon, but after that everything was a blank.

"Uhhhh..." He managed to get out before a nurse came over to him.

"Doctor, he's waking up"! She yelled as she began to check his vitals and other monitors.

CMO Micheal Sanders walked over and began checking his wound, although he really didn't know much about the tech that shape shifter was using, he could tell that it was doing his job much better.

"Lucky for him this stuff works quickly, or he never would have". He grumbled mostly to himself as he looked over the 3D body scan from hours earlier and compared the to new one.

The nurse nodded absentmindedly and changed out the bed pan. Since Sanders knew he could only monitor the man and keep his body sustained with nutrients and the liquid metal stuff attached to a power outlet, he really needed to get that... thing... down here and let him do his own examination. The only reason he was going to allow it was that all three time travelers claimed that the same being did major neural surgery on River as a baby, and he had witnessed it's success personally.

He walked over to the com panel and called the Captain down to Sick Bay.

"On my way Doc". The captain said with excitement barely contained in his voice.

Sanders turned back around and looked at the man, his blue eyes were wondering around the room and his heart rate was picking up, as well as his breathing. He could tell the man was scared. He rushed back to his patient's side, he couldn't allow the man to stress his battered body.

"Hey, you're safe now, there's no need to be afraid".

"No... not safe... where's Zoe"?

The man was still a little delirious probably from the pain, so he administered some through his IV. His heart rate and breathing slowed somewhat and the tension in the blonde man's body lessened as well.

"Better"? Sanders asked him as his patient as his bright blue eyes lock onto his.

"Yeah, what kind of fairy magic did you use"?

Sanders gave a dry laugh before he answered him.

"Morpozine, now, I know your tired, but our captain wants to ask you some questions Mister... He flipped through the patient records to find the man's name. Sanders had been busy ever since the landing with injuries and since this man was stable he hadn't paid much attention to him.

...Mister Washburne.

He noticed the pilot's face pale and his eye's fill with fear. He wondered about the man's reaction for a moment before the doors opened and let in the Captain, and John Connor.

"Here he is, don't worry, your not in trouble". He assured the pilot and turned around to greet his captain.

"It's not me I'm worried about". Wash said barely above a whisper as the man he assumed was captain approached him along with a white male teenager with a nasty scar on his face.

Wash was wondering where such a young man got such a scar, and why his facial expressions reminded him of Mal. His ponderings were interrupted when the Captain greeted him.

"Mr. Washburne, I'm Captain Pudong, it's a pleasure to have you aboard my ship. According to your the guy who resuscitated you, it seems you went through quite an ordeal with the Reavers. I hope you're feeling better".

Pudong noticed the man's features clearly showing distrust, and he honestly didn't blame him. To his surprise though, the blonde pilot of Serenity cracked a joke.

"Oh I'm feeling right as rain now that you're doctor gave me some fairy magic". The tone was laced with dry humor and fear, obviously this man didn't handle these situations well without his humor as a shield.

"You don't need to be afraid of us, your friends' broad wave changed our loyalties".

Pudong watched as Wash's eyes changed from fear to surprise.

"They made it through? Where are they, where's my wife"? His voice rise slowly as he spoke.

"As far as we know the attack group is giving your crew a ride to Persephone, the broad wave apparently turned the Operative assigned to kill River".

"So they're not going to be tortured and killed"? Despite the man's natural fall back to humor, they knew the man was still deeply worried.

"No, Your ship was heavily damaged, and many of the crew were injured, but no fatalities".

"When can I see them"?

"Well, not for a while, see the person who saved your life crash landed on the same planet as us. We both project repairs to take about a month".

Wash let out a breath of frustration, but conceded since he was confined to a hospital bed.

"Fine, can you send them a message to tell them that I'm alright"?

The Captain shook his head and explained why.

"We don't want the Alliance to know about us, this ship you're on is a top secret, and we just returned from a three year exploration mission. Our welcome home was the broad wave and no one here has any intention on giving this ship back to them. We also know why they were after your ship, and what they did to the poor girl, and if I had any doubts about the crew being royally pissed enough to change sides from just Miranda, when they found out about River..."

"I know what you mean, I've never the Captain get so riled up before, well not to the point of attracting the attention of every Reaver in the sector..." The pilot finished wryly.

"I've never seen a Reaver before, but from what I've heard about them it sounds like your captain's a bit crazy. Actually he reminds me a lot of my mother". The young man standing next to the captain said with a small grin on his face.

"Who are you anyway"? Wash asked John, his curiosity about the young man without a uniform on, yet standing next to the captain as if he was First Mate.

John put out his hand to shake Wash's hand and he accepted, albeit a little slowly.

"My name's John Connor, River is...was... my adopted daughter" John noticed the confusion on the pilot's face, so he answered the unspoken question before he said it.

"It's a long story".

"And I thought River's history was strange enough as it was". Wash said as his eye's began to droop. The last words he heard before he fell back asleep was...

"You have no idea".

* * *

**Meanwhile in Samantha Serra's quarters...**

Ever since she left the bridge in tears, Cmd. Serra had stayed locked in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed in an almost catatonic state.

She had been so confident, so sure in her beliefs that she never thought anything could shake them, that they could be the rock that she could fall back on no matter what she had to do.

She thought she was making the universe a safer place...

The broad wave had done what she hadn't thought possible.

It had shattered her rock, her foundation.

Her family had always been a staunch supporter of the Alliance, even more so during the war. She herself had joined when she was 22 and had served during the war in the special ops division. She was graceful, controlled, and very smart. She never lost her head in the heat of battle and was an incredible infiltrator.

When the war had ended, she had been approached by the most influential men in Parliament to join an elite group of men and women. Even though they went by the same name, they had different types, some were good at hunting down targets, others infiltration and assassination, others long term infiltration for the purpose of spying. This groups job was long term, their assignments could take months to years at a time. They would fit into a secure environment flawlessly to earn a group's trust to keep themselves in the loop. If the group did something that went against the parameters of the infiltrator, then they were to make sure they fell back in line. If they didn't, the group was to be terminated at the most opportune time.

Samantha was part of the last group, the best one too. That is why she was assigned to the I.A.V.X _Sol, _because she was the best of best.

She was to make sure that if the ship picked up anything that could be a potential hazard to the Alliance, she was to make sure it didn't make back. One way or another. The gynoid known as Cameron posed a great threat, and so did ones like her, Kara had been around for a long time, and she doubted that the machine would cause trouble after all this time. With the T-1000 MIA, that meant only Cameron needed to be taken care of.

However, Pudong had refused to listen to her concerns, his curiosity and enthusiasm had been one of the reasons that she had been assigned as his First Officer.

Samantha had waited until the last minute to activate the device that threw the warp coils out of alignment, and waited for the end to come.

What she hadn't counted on was the machine to reconfigure the circuity so quickly, even though she had counted on her trying to fix the torn wires.

_"I should have pressed them for more details about her abilities"_ She had thought to herself after Cameron had shut down the nacelle.

After the Miranda broad wave, and seeing the evidence herself, she no longer care about Cameron being a threat to the Alliance, not one bit.

She had lost her faith. She had lost her rock. This is the situation she now found herself in, sitting on her bed with silent tears running down her cheeks.

She didn't know what to do next, everything she had known had been pulled out from under her.

Samantha Serra stayed in her near catatonia until she heard someone knocking on the door...

* * *

**Half and hour** **earlier...**

The T-1000 and Cameron had gone to work trying to find the saboteur a few hours earlier. Cameron had been thoroughly studying the crew personnel files while comparing them to mountains of data the LMT had on agents that the government had in it's employment. Unfortunately for them the files did not say what assignment the agent was given.

It also didn't help that the more detailed parts of the personnel files were encrypted by someone on the ship, not even the Captain knew about them.

The only reason that anyone would want that is if the saboteurs attempt on the ship failed, then finding said person based on personal history would be diminished.

However, both Cameron and the T-1000 had broken through the encryption faster than any human ever could and it didn't take them long to come up with only one strong possibility.

"It would explain her reaction on the bridge, and her stoic demeanor".

"Yes, placing a Class III Operative on board was tactically wise. Like the Class I Operative that was after River, the possibility she is still a threat is less than 20%".

"I agree, but I not willing to take that chance, not with John".

The T-1000 nodded curtly at her unspoken request and both began walking toward's Commander Serra's quarters.

"The Commander has a sister aboard Serenity, a registered Companion who used to rent one of the shuttle's".

"How is this relevant to our current situation"? Cameron asked the LMT, confused as to why he would mention something off topic.

"I find it highly unlikely, a strange coincidence".

"You're right, it is. I'm not used to you being so illogical".

"You hadn't met the real me yet". He said as he glanced at Cameron who raised an eyebrow at his response.

When they reached the Commander's quarters, Cameron stood outside with her hand on her Lassiter, safety off, while the T-1000 slithered his way through the ventilation system into the Commander's room.

Cameron rang the chime and knocked on the door, providing enough distraction for the T-1000 to sneak in without the Operative noticing right away.

Now the hardest part for Cameron would be not killing the woman on the spot for endangering John. She had learned self control, but that didn't mean it was easy...

* * *

Samantha wiped her face with a tissue and walked to door, straightening her uniform as she did. People who knew her well always said who it was after ringing the chime, since whoever was at the door didn't, she pulled her pistol out of it's holster and flicked the safety off.

She pushed the button to unlock the door and it slid open promptly. On the other side of it was the last person she wanted to see there.

Cameron...

The cold, calculating look in her eyes conveyed her intentions to Cmd. Serra in an instant. She raised her pistol, only to find the Lassiter's business end inches from her nose.

Her training kicked in and she dove to the side, and was surprised the machine didn't fire. She pushed up off of her knees and began running for her bedroom where she had a more powerful weapon on her dresser.

She was nearing the threshold to the bedroom when something rushed out of it and tackled her to the floor. Samantha yelped in surprise and pain as the silver mass nearly crushed her.

The silver blob surrounded her, disarmed her, and then forced her up onto her knees as it left her body, save for the make-shift hand and ankle cuffs it had fashioned from itself.

She watched with both fascination and horror as the shapeless mass began to take shape into a humanoid form. No more than 6 seconds after it had attacked her had it already finished taking its final shape. It looked down at her with a stoic expression on its face, unlike the gynoid who walked up next him a second later.

"Good work". She said simply before she knelt down to Samantha's level with the antique laser pistol pointed at her head.

"You've been bad, you tried to kill everyone on the ship, I wonder what the Captain would think".

Samantha was shaking from a mixture of fear and rage at the female machine in front of her, the only time it faltered was when she mentioned the Captain.

She respected the man a lot despite their differences. Like her, he always stuck to his beliefs. Until today that is, but she didn't want to lose the respect she had worked hard to earn from him. He hadn't taken well to her at first, only speaking with her when it was required. Over time she had developed a close friendship with him and the rest of the senior staff; despite who and what she was, she didn't want to lose that.

"I did what was necessary, you're a threat to the Alliance, and the Captain wouldn't listen to my concerns. I followed my orders".

"I wonder what you're sister would say to that, after all, she helped send broad wave".

"_Inara"!_ Samantha laughed at the idea of her sister being a traitor to the Alliance, she had never been a staunch supporter, but she would never do that.

"Yes, the T-1000 was there, he saw her".

In truth it had only been a glimpse through the legs of an Alliance squad, but for him it was enough.

"Why"? Was all she could get out, unable to think of a reason why her sister would be out this far in the first place.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask her, but I think it might have something to do with _this_". Cameron finished with a little vehemence in her voice. She pulled out a data pad and shoved it in front of her face.

The shape shifter she assumed to be the T-1000 freed her hands so she could read it.

Cameron observed her reactions as she read every gory detail of what the Alliance had done to River.

When she was finished she slowly put the pad down on the floor and looked back up a the two machines. She slowly shook her head and fought back more tears, hell she hadn't cried this much in her entire life, but she had never had her life shaken as badly as today had.

"I'd already made up my mind, before you showed me that". She closed her eyes for a second in a vain attempt to keep the tears at bay. However, one slipped through her defenses and ran down her angelic face, causing both Cameron and the T-1000 to raise an eyebrow.

"They don't deserve my faith in them". Samantha said barely above a whisper.

Cameron looked at her closely, observing every body movement, every quiver in her voice as she spoke. She knew she was telling the truth.

"What are you going to do now"?

Samantha lifted her head again and looked Cameron in the eye before she bowed her head once more.

"I don't know, I..I need time". She swallowed the lump in her throat before she continued. "I would like to see my sister again, maybe... maybe she can help me".

Cameron looked at the T-1000, both discussed briefly what they should do with her, and it was decided that she would remain confined to quarters, after she explained herself to the Captain.

Samantha reluctantly agreed, not looking at all thrilled about telling her CO that she tried to kill everyone, but then again, no normal person would.

After they released her bonds, Cameron walked the Commander to the Captain's office while the T-1000 went to do his own thing.

Cameron rang the door chime to Pudong's ready room and then turned to Samantha.

"Are you ready"?

She looked back at Cameron with her stoic expression in place.

"No, but I'll be fine".

The doors opened and they walked in...

* * *

The T-1000 made his way into the recovery ward of sickbay where his charge was. He felt better now that the saboteur had been caught, and he was certain that she was acting alone.

He did a diagnostic download from the nanites currently embedded in the man, analyzed the data, and then made adjustments that would help him heal even faster.

With the nanites promoting cell growth and the advanced medicines the Alliance had, Hoban Washburne's recovery time had been cut down to mere days now.

Sooner or later he was going to have to have a conversation with the man, but right now he needed to rest. He walked out of Sick Bay and decided to find John Connor instead; they needed to work out a plan of sorts, but he knew finalizing one wouldn't be the possible until they had reunited with River.

After asking the computer where John's location was, he made his way to his current location, the mess hall. Since he did not eat food, he simply crossed the room and sat down at the table where John was eating alone.

John looked up at the T-1000 when he sat down, but went back to eating. He was waiting for the LMT to explain his presence.

"General, we need to plan a course of action".

John stared at the machine in annoyance at using his hated nickname.

"I know, I've been trying to plan one out, but I'm out of my element here". He pushed some food around on his plate, trying to formulate some sort of plan.

"That's why we should work out a plan together, I understand how things work in this time period better than you do".

"I know". John gulped down the last of his drink and pushed his tray aside. "This is what I have so far. We wait until Serenity has relaunched, then we intercept them as soon as possible. We find out what the situation is with River, and then we focus on finding Kara. Cameron told me she's working with some of the astronomers on board to try and track her position. Once that is settled, we try to get back to earth. Whether that be on the _Sol_ or not, we'll have to see. Once we get back we pack up the spare parts and we go back in time".

The T-1000 tilted his head.

"Why go back in time? They stopped Judgement Day"?

John looked into the machine's cool blue eyes and explained.

"A lot of people died before it was defeated, a lot of people in our group died because I wasn't there to lead. I bet it was only because Future John was there that it was even defeated. If we came back with all the new tech, and the foreknowledge of Skynet's location. We could take it down without losing so many people".

The T-1000 thought over it for a second, analyzing the tactical benefits of going back. Once he realized that the pros did out weigh the cons.

"I see, however, we plan on taking back at least four individuals. We may have to build a large stationary TDE to get everyone back".

"True, or we could build a mobile one into a ship". John said as he turned a napkin around with a rough sketch of a Firefly class vessel traveling through time.

The LMT raised his eyebrow, but nodded at the practicality of the idea.

"You and I need to talk to Serenity's pilot before we refine this plan further General. We would also benefit from Cameron's advice as well". John nodded before he asked how long until the man was fully healed.

"In a few days, in the mean time I think it would be useful for the three of us to exchange information so we are, as you humans say, 'on the same level'".

"I agree, you know more about how this system works, and we have more detailed information concerning our friends in the past".

The T-1000 nodded once more and left the table. John sat there making a mental list of everything he needed to do in the next few days before he spoke to Mr. Washburne. When he was finished he got up to find his fiance', he hadn't seen her in a while and was curious as to how the witch hunt was progressing...

* * *

**September 20, 2517, 10 am**

Wash was finally being released today, much to the surprise of the medical staff. Only Doctor Sanders wasn't surprised, his actions dictated that he was expecting his 'speedy' recovery, but was impressed by whatever technology had revived and healed him.**  
**

Much to his displeasure, Wash still couldn't remember anything about how he got injured, well, he knew who he was injured by, but he didn't know the intimate details.

As he felt the ghost pain in his chest, he convinced himself that maybe he didn't want to.

What really tore him up was the fact that Zoe and the crew thought he was dead and eaten.

Wash really hoped Mal wouldn't punch him when he came back.

Just as Wash finished getting dressed in some spare civilian clothing that the sick bay doors opened and the hard looking teenager, John Connor, he remembered walked in with an older man dressed in old fashioned fatigues.

John walked up to him and stuck his hand out for him to shake.

"Good to see your all better now Mr. Washburne". He said as they shook while the pilot gave him a grin at how he addressed him.

"Please, call me Wash, my father was Mr. Washburne. If I remember correctly, you're John Connor"?

"That's me". He let go of the pilot's hand before continuing on. "I know you were probably expecting the Captain, but he and I both agreed that it would be better for me and my friend here..." John gestured toward the T-1000 behind him, only Wash didn't know that, but he did notice that the man tilted his head and raised his eyebrow at the word 'friend'. "... to explain what's going on and how you came here".

"Yeah, I've been driving myself batty the last couple of days. Kinda wonderin' how exactly I was... killed I guess".

"I wasn't there, he was though". John pointed back at the stoic figure behind him once more. This time Wash took a better look at the man, and he felt like he recognized him from somewhere...

"Do I know you? You awfully familiar..." Wash squinted his eyes as he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. He jumped when the man spoke.

"Ariel, I was on the hospital roof". As soon as he finished, Wash snapped his fingers followed by an 'ah ha'.

"I knew I wasn't crazy, or not more crazy than I already am". As he thought harder, he wondered why he would be following them. That seemed to be the only explanation for him to be on both Ariel and Universe's moon and not be a Fed.

"You're not a bounty hunter are you"?

John Connor laughed while the man stoically shook his head no, though Wash thought he detected a hint of a smirk on his face.

"No, I was an assassin". He said in a no nonsense tone. John stopped laughing and glared at him. Wash turned pale.

"It's okay, like my fiance', they are no longer what they intended to be". Wash turned to the young man who's demeanor had changed so quickly he had to blink.

"Uh, yeah, okay...".

"It's okay, were not going to hurt you or anyone else you know".

Wash snorted. "No like there's many of those left".

"Yeah, read the report. I know how you feel, innocent people dying because of a decision you made or went along with".

Wash noted that a kind of weariness creeped into John's voice, and he was curious about as to why.

"But enough about that, you wanted to know how you got here. Here's the short version". He paused as thought about how to begin. "Your ship crash landed on that moon, got tore up pretty bad. Sometime between the landing and the crew leaving the ship, you were impaled in the by a 20 foot spear. You died almost instantly".

Wash winced as that ghost pain flared again.

"That... ouch. Wait, how the hell did you revive me"? He asked the still stoic man next to John.

"I used Mimetic Poly-Alloy, a complex mixture of metals with different kinds of nanites immersed in it. It revived your body after sealing off the blood vessels. It put you on life support while it accelerated healing".

Wash was speechless, he had never heard of that kind of tech before, and Simon had never said anything about it.

"I know one of the best trauma surgeons in the core, and I'm pretty sure he would have mentioned it..." He cut himself off when he felt his chest and abdomen tickle, as if his outer layer of skin was pulling itself off. He tore his shirt off and looked down at his chest; what he saw caused him to fall on the floor in absolute fright. His chest and belly had turned silver and was falling onto the floor! He watched it coalesce in a grape fruit sized sphere.

When Wash realized his chest was still there and he was not seeing his ribs and intestines, he cried out in a shocked voice.

"Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze, what the hell is going on"!

Wash watched with horror filled blue eyes as John leaned down and picked up the sphere, and then handed it to the nameless man next to him. He stopped breathing when he saw it _absorb_ into him!

"That..." John paused as he turned back to the frightened pilot. "...is Mimetic Poly Alloy, and he..." John pointed back at the T-1000. "...is a sentient machine made out of it".

Wash managed to get two words before he saw the coolest , and possibly the scariest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"_Fei hua_".

John simply smirked at him before he turned back to the man once more.

"Show him".

* * *

Two hours later Wash felt like he needed a drink, a strong drink, a lot of strong drinks.

He had just been told the most fantastic story of his life, and he had told some whoppers in his time.

This would easily top them all, if it were made up, but it wasn't and they had shown him all the proof he needed.

The liquid metal being, called a T-1000, the Lassiters with their cold fusion cells, the plasma rifle, the old style UAV, and of course the fact they were on a ship that could travel thousands of times faster than the speed of light. Something he thought was still an impossibility.

(He vaguely remembered River telling him that it was possible, but when she had begun ranting equations he zoned out)

Now John wanted to show him one last piece of proof that he was telling the truth.

John had told Wash about the machines, J-Day, time-travel and most of the story. He had also said that his fiance' was a machine, but like the T-1000, was sentient and had emotions.

He'd also told him that she would look very familiar to him, but to not freak out when he saw her.

So there they were, at the entrance to John's quarters, waiting for whoever was inside to open the door.

When it did seconds later, he was robbed of breath once more.

Standing in front of him was an older, more mature looking River. However, he knew right away it wasn't, the eyes conveyed a controlled aura that River never had, as long as he'd known her. That and her hair was styled.

She gave him a polite smile and greeted him.

"Hello, my name is Cameron". She put her hand out and shook the bug eyed pilots hand.

"Uh.. hi, my name's Wash. It's..uh..a pleasure to meet you Cameron". He stumbled as his mind tried to get over the shock.

"Are you going to come in"? She asked with slight amusement in her voice. Wash managed a nod before he walked through the door.

The four of them sat down at the small table in the room.

Wash decided to break the awkward silence first.

"So you". He pointed at Cameron. "Were based of River from a timeline where the world ended, and then were assigned to kill him from the same timeline"?

"Yes, but I was captured, reprogrammed and eventually sent back in time to protect my John from Skynet".

"You know this is all fantastic, time travel, sentient robots, shape shifters. I feel like something out of a science fiction drama"!

To his surprise, everyone looked at him like he had hit on a private joke of theirs, which he had.

"You're not the first person to say that". Cameron said in monotone, but with a small smirk adorning her lips.

"It's not the first time I've said that either, when we finally figured out that your daughter was psychic..."

"How does that work anyway"? John interrupted.

Wash scratched his head. "Uhh... we don't really know, we know she smarter than any person in history we know of. She was correcting Simon's spelling when she was three".

John turned to the T-1000 who nodded back.

"That was his doing, she was injured as an infant, brain trauma. He fixed it as quickly as he could, but the side affect was he rebuilt that part in more of a machine-like way. That's why she learns so fast, as for the psychic thing, maybe that's just a byproduct of the... Alliance cutting up and rewiring her brain".

John virtually spat out the word Alliance, and the two machines clenched their fists. Wash suddenly got the feeling that if a member of Parliament were to suddenly walk in, he would killed in the most brutal way possible.

And he wouldn't mind, neither would Mal.

"You know, I think you guys would get along well with our crew".

John looked back at him with a small smile.

"Actually, we were thinking of joining it for a while. From what you told me, River loves it there, I don't want to take her from that if I don't have to. However, we have other things we need to do, and we can't stay on the _Sol_ to do them".

"Yeah, you mentioned the other one like him, what was her name again"?

"Kara" Cameron answered. "I'm trying to track her trajectory after she was sucked out of the ship, but it won't be easy".

"As payment for helping us find her, you'll have us at your disposal for whatever job needs to be done".

Wash grunted a little with a small smile on his face. Mal would love to have two nigh invincible machines and a kid who'd been trained to be a soldier since the cradle as security when dealing with less than trust worthy folk.

"Well, I'm not the Captain, so you'd have to ask him, but I'd think he'd go for it".

"Good, now until they get the ship space worthy we need you to work on a project".

"Oh yeah, what is it"?

The T-1000 answered the question instead of John.

"I need you to help me repair the ship I brought us here in, an explosion damaged the deuterium tank. The crew have their own ship to fix, but they are willing to lend us the tools and whatever parts they can".

"Well I'm not as good as our mechanic, Kaylee, but I've repaired my fair share of ships".

The T-1000 gave him a nod before a few more words were said between the four before they got down to business.

* * *

After lunch, Wash headed down to the surface where the small ship was waiting. The machine had told him it was the same one that he had saw on Ariel, only sans the Blue Hands.

"I always wondered why it had that weird shape". Wash said as the duo approached the crippled proto-warp ship.

"Yes, the shape allows for proper warp field formation".

Wash knelt down next to large hole in the side and shook his head.

"This is bad, it's gonna take weeks for us two to fix this".

"I know that, I suggest that we get started immediately".

Wash nodded and they began making a list of tools and parts that would be needed.

As they walked back to the _Sol_ Wash realized something he hadn't before.

"Do you have a name? I mean, there's Cameron, Kara, and the others, but unless I'm going crazy..."

"I don't have a name, They told me I should pick my own".

"Why haven't you"?

"I am the only T-1000, I don't really see a need for a name".

"I get that, but what if your name reflected that"?

"I don't understand".

"Okay, think about this for a moment, your the Prototype T-1000"?

"Yes".

"Okay, so turn that into, oh I don't know... uhhhh, GOT IT". Wash exclaimed as a figurative light bulb went off. The T-1000 simply looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't give me that, I get excited when I figure something out. Anyway, abbreviate what you are into P.T.K. alright? P for prototype, T, for Terminator, and K, is sometimes used for 1000. Now, what name closely resembles that acronym"? He finished with a grin on his face.

The T-1000's face lit up as he figured out what he was getting at.

"Patrick"

"EXACTLY! I think the name fits too"!

The LMT gave the pilot a rare smile.

"I think so too".

* * *

**October 20, 2517, 12 pm Serenity ship time. Immediately post Serenity. **

River Tam stared out the forward window as Serenity prepared for hard burn.

Suddenly the ship lurched a little as something tore off.

"What was that"? Mal asked with worry on his face. River smiled, already knowing what it was.

"You should listen to Kaylee more".

Mal looked back over at River with annoyance at being told off by a 17 year old.

"I guess I should little one, mind takin' over while I go see how much this is going to cost me"?

"No".

"Don't wreck her, she's barely holding together as she is". He threw over his shoulder as he walked out of the bridge.

River rolled her eyes to herself as she set the coordinates for Boros and engaged the gravity drive.

When the auto pilot took over, she pushed the stick forward and curled up into her chair and gazed at the stars with her soulful eyes.

She listened to the crews voices flow in and out of her head depending on how strongly they were feeling or thinking. She smiled to herself as she felt Simon and Kaylee thinking about each other, or Inara's thoughts about the captain, and how much she wanted to stay.

When she got to Zoe, she felt her overwhelming sadness at the loss of Wash, but her thoughts were with the ship right now. She could grieve when there wasn't a ship to hold together. As River thought about Wash, an uneasy feeling filled her, one that she really couldn't explain. The best she had come up with was that Wash's death wasn't all that it had seemed, especially since they hadn't found the body.

She put aside that mystery and brought up another, one that had been bothering her since Ariel.

River had felt a presence there, one that was unlike any other, and yet at the same time, it felt... familiar, safe. She had felt it again when she was fighting the Reavers on Universe's moon, but still could not explain it.

Despite her confusion, she somehow knew that both mysteries would be solved soon enough, but at the same time she felt as though at the conclusion of those two mysteries, many more would follow in their wake.

She was right, the storm was getting worse.

But Mal was right as well, they would break through it soon enough...

She smiled softly to herself as she let her now mostly sane mind relax to the sounds of Serenity.

* * *

**So... What did you think? Did I do a decent job of portraying both River and Wash?**

**If so, tell me, if not, tell me. I can't improve without feedback!**


	7. Rocky Reunions

**Sorry for the wait again, this chapter wasn't hard,**

** but getting the personalities right was.**

**Read and Review!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: Rocky Reunion**

**October 22, 2517, 3am Serenity Ship time. **

Mal rubbed his hand through hair before grabbing the cup of instant coffee sitting on the pilot's console. He had been waving contacts for 24 hours straight, but most hadn't returned them, those who had told him they couldn't do business with him.

Mal knew it was going to be difficult to find jobs after what the Operative had done, but figured someone out there would be desperate enough to hire them.

But alas, not even Badger would give them a job.

Now he had a real problem on his hands, with one of the plasma vent's heat shield missing, that meant that he had to hand out serious platinum to pay for a new one, plus the hinge and actuator.

Worst of all, they couldn't land without it, unless he wanted the reactor to blow during reentry.

The only thing that comforted him was the fact they were still sitting on a serious pile of dough after that bank job.

Oh, they still had that Lassiter too, at least, it was there before the crash...

Mal decided he better go find it, after all it could keep them flyin' for a bit longer, that and he needed more coffee. Mal groaned as he got out of the pilot's chair and popped his back a few times.

"I'm gettin' too old for this". He muttered as he grabbed the mug and clunked down the stairs. He rubbed the tiredness from his eyes as he walked into the mess.

As soon as he cleared them, he froze at what they saw.

Standing at the counter making tea was Inara Serra, the most beautiful woman he'd ever set eyes on. Though he tried to deny it...

She looked up at him and gave him her usual smile, though it was a little more genuine at seeing him bug eyed staring at her in this slip of a nightgown.

"Mal, you should get some sleep".

Malcolm Reynolds finally tore his eyes away from her body and up to her face.

"Uh yeah, I probably should". He slumped down in a chair and continued. "Been tryin' for a day straight to find us a job, but no one and nothing wants anything to do with us".

Inara walked around the kitchen counter and sat across from him.

"You knew it was going to be hard after what he did, you just have to hope that things are going to get better".

Mal snorted a tired laugh as he rested his head in his hands momentarily before looking back up at her.

"Well I don't see how they can get much worse than what they were".

"At least you still have the money from the bank you robbed, and I know you haven't sold the Lassiter".

"I was just thinkin' the same thing before I came down here. I didn't even bother to see if it made through our little crash landing".

"Well I did, it's still in its hiding spot underneath the kitchen sink".

"Good, cause were probably gonna need it for coin sooner rather than later".

They sat in silence for a moment while Inara took a sip of her tea.

"So". Mal cleared his throat. "Have you made a decision as to whether you want to stay on flyin' scrap heap of ours"?

Inara's previously cheerful look darkened a little.

"You always have to ruin a conversation don't you"?

"What? I was just askin' a question".

"Men..." she muttered to low for Mal to hear.

"Mal, it's the way you phrased the question, you made it sound like I despise being here"!

"We'll don't ya? You already left once, we had to drag you back 'cause someone was threatin' you".

Mal never saw the slap coming. He stood stunned for a second as Inara fought to contain her anger.

"You're...you're... despicable"!

Mal opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by something that rivaled getting hit by Inara on his list of 'things I don't like'

_The Proximity Alarm..._

* * *

River was in her bunk, dreaming, and for once it wasn't filled with the horrors of the Academy or of the deeds of other people.

She was small, tiny, and could only crawl.

She crawled on a bed with two people under the covers, she stared at one of them. He seemed vaguely familiar to River; his face held youthfulness, but she could see the weapon on the nightstand.

River was confused, she didn't remember this place, and the man was not Gabriel Tam.

As her infant head turned to the other occupant, River's confusion grew. There was a woman there who looked exactly like her, only a few year older, but River knew from looking in her eyes that this wasn't her. The eyes conveyed an intelligence that rivaled her own, but radiated a level of control River knew she could never achieve.

River stared at her look-alike, the best way she could describe her, as she turned her gaze upon the man sleeping next to her. River noted the love that radiated from her chocolate brown eyes as she looked at him.

River crawled forward onto the the sleeping young man, but was held back by her look-alike. The woman turned her around and spoke to her.

"River, don't wake Dada yet, he needs to sleep".

River woke up with a gasp, her brown eyes wide and her whole body was sprung tight as a cord from the tension. As her breathing slowed, she tried to understand what she relived, but she knew one thing for certain. She knew that the young man with the light brown hair was someone she once knew, someone she had loved as a father.

It had been five or six years since River had found out that she was adopted, and Simon knew as well, despite what their parents told them. Neither of them had been surprised, you can't keep that kind of thing a secret from two geniuses. It didn't change the love they had for one another, and River doubted that anything ever could. Their bond was special, they were both willing to give it all for the other.

Some bonds were thicker than blood.

That train of thought lead back to her numerous father figures.

She never knew her real father, her Dada was the young man from the memory/dream, her Dad was Gabriel Tam, but her _Ba ba_, or Daddy, was Mal.

River smiled warmly at that thought, she had grown to love the man who had taken them in and protected them when anyone else would have left them behind or turned them in.

He had more of a soul than most gave him credit for.

She got out of bed and slipped on her favorite blue sundress, unable to sleep anymore after the dream.

She walked out of her room and rubbed her eyes as her mind fully woke. As it did, the dreams and thoughts of those on board began to filter into her mind.

River smiled softly to herself as Kaylee and Simon dreamed of each other as they slept in the other's arms. She was glad that finally got past his 'boob' phase, well, mostly anyway.

Her smile changed to a sad one as she sees Zoe's dream of Wash playing with his dinosaurs like he always used to.

Jayne was dreaming his typical dreams that consisted of guns, sex, and bar tussles. She was the only one on board who wasn't disgusted by his coarse and blunt nature, mostly because what she considered disgusting was playing around planetary populations like guinea pigs and little girls brains.

She wasn't surprised to find Mal and Inara awake, and she could almost feel the heat coming off their argument. She shook her head and wondered when those two were ever going to wake up...

"_too stubborn to find happiness" _She thought to herself. She slipped silently by them as she made her way to the bridge.

She was about to sit down in Wash's chair when she was suddenly overwhelmed by a multitude of minds crashing into her consciousness.

She stumbled into the pilot's chair and her face grimaced in pain as her neurons were nearly overloaded. As River's super-brain began to filter them into background noise, she realized that the only way for such a thing to occur is if a ship were to approach at a speed greater than light. Brain waves broad waved on EM frequencies, and therefore only traveled as fast as light.

She knew the tech existed, but they had never encountered a ship equipped with one before.

All of this had happened in the span of three seconds since River had felt the presence, and during that time, Serenity's computer had finally made sense of what the sensors were telling it and triggered the alarm.

River knew that Mal will be on the bridge in a few seconds, and he would want as much information as possible. Her head still hurt, but she managed to glean enough information to know that they were not hostile, despite being an Alliance ship.

She also noted with some surprise that the ship was rogue.

River turned around as Mal and Inara rushed onto the bridge, but no one got a chance to speak before the communication console began beeping. River wordless pushed the button to open the channel.

"Serenity, this is the _I.A.V.X Sol, _prepare for docking". The channel closed before Mal could say anything and the ship lurched as it was caught in the _Sol's_ tractor beam.

Mal rushed over to the other station and pushed a few buttons.

"River, see if we can break free"! Mal took out his Moses Bros. S.D.E. Frontier Model B and checked the magazine.

Mal doubted they would get away so easily, so when River told him the beam was too powerful he was already prepared.

"Inara, get in your shuttle, I don't want..."

"Not here to harm, only want to talk". Mal and Inara turned around and looked at her like she was slightly crazy, which she was.

Meanwhile, Zoe had appeared from behind and was taking stock of the situation.

"Alliance sir"?

"Yep, pullin' us in. However, River here says they ain't here to fight".

Zoe saw the conflict in his eyes, understandable after all they'd been through.

"Sir, if it was anyone else..."

"I know". Mal shoved his gun back in its holster. "Let's go greet our none violent Alliance captors".

As they four left the bridge, the ship lurched again as the _Sol_ locked onto Serenity's airlock.

As soon as it did, however, River dashed past them like a bat out of hell screaming in the happiest voice Mal ever heard out of the psychic.

"HE'S ALIVE"!

Mal looked at the others before picking up the pace.

"What the hell was that all about"? He asked Zoe as they ran past the crew quarters.

"Don't know sir". Zoe replied in her usual stoic voice.

By the time they got to the cargo bay, Jayne had caught up with them with Vera and a bandoleer of grenades strapped to his person. Simon and Kaylee were walking out of the passenger dorms all disheveled.

River, on the other hand, was in the process of overriding the locks on the outer hatch.

"River wait"! Mal yelled as he vaulted over the last few steps and ran for the door with Zoe right on his tail.

Simon caught up to Inara who had just finished coming down the steps.

"What is going on"? He asked as they made their way to the door that River had dashed through.

"I'm not sure".

* * *

River still had a headache, but the she was able to filter through the minds slowly, gleaning information she might find useful.

Just as she was about to step off the bridge, she felt a very, very familiar mind aboard the FTL ship. Her heart nearly stopped as she felt the familiar thought patterns and emotions flow through her.

"He's alive..." River whispered to herself.

It was Wash, there was no doubt about it. She knew the others wouldn't believe if she told them, so she would just have to show them instead.

She pushed past them and broke into a full sprint, screaming the good news she just couldn't contain.

The young psychic ran down the stairs and vaulted the last few before sprinting toward the inner airlock door. That door she opened easily enough and the outer door didn't take much longer. She door blew open part of the way from the air pressure difference but she ran through it anyway.

River ran down the airlock corridor straight toward's the blonde pilot. A huge smile spread across her face and she ran toward him.

She yelled his name as she ran into his arms and he lifted her off the ground.

"River! How you been kid"? Wash said as he set River back on the ground.

"Never better". She said with an impish smile adorning her angelic face.

He took a good look at her. He was surprised to see how calm and controlled she was, her eyes sparkled with joy, but they showed a lucidity he had never seen in her before.

Already his day was getting better, but when he saw her eyes focus on him in a rather unnatural manner, he knew what she was doing.

_"Now don't do that readin' thing yet River, it'll spoil the surprise". _He thought as loudly as he could so she'd get the message before she dug further.

River broke her gaze and nodded, she hadn't gotten much anyway, but she was entertained by the idea of a surprise. After all, she didn't get those very often anymore.

He looked over her shoulder and saw Mal and Zoe staring at him, Mal in surprise, but his wife in disbelief.

Wash knew right then that convincing his warrior woman that he was who he appeared to be wasn't going to be a cake walk

"Wont be easy to convince". River said to him.

"Hey, what did I say...".

"Can't help it when you think loud".

"Right..." He said in a disbelieving tone, but she only gave him a look that conveyed how serious she was.

"Alright, I'll try to be more quiet" He said in wry tone to which gave him a smirk, but it disappeared when his face became serious.

"Concerned, about her, about us". River picked up the worry he was practically screaming.

"Yeah". He sighed as they began walking toward them, his security detail staying a few steps behind. When they reached the airlock, the rest of the crew were gaping at him.

Zoe stood stock still at Mal's side, but slightly behind. Her face was showing anger now, but still mixed with disbelief. Mal was just trying to keep his jaw from flapping, when he finally did, he was still the first to speak.

"Wash". He swallowed hard and blinked hard. "You mind explainin' this bit of wizardry"?

Wash didn't get a chance to respond before Zoe lunged at him and ripped his shirt open. Everyone gazed at his chest that looked as if he'd never been shishka -bobbed by a 20 foot spear.

"It's not magic sir, it's a trick, no one survives that and doesn't have a scar to show for it". She said tonelessly as she raised her mare's leg and pointed it at Wash who's eyes had gone very wide. He threw up his hands so fast the motion was a blur.

"Hey, hey, hey, no need to turn me into Swiss cheese".

"She's got a point there mister, now you best be doing some explaining or I'll let her pull that trigger".

"I don't need one". Zoe said as her finger tightened on the trigger.

"NOOOO"! River screamed as she shoved the weapon aside as it went off, barely managing to save Wash a bullet hole. River tore the weapon out of Zoe's hands and kept it out of her reach. "No, not a trick, just listen"! River pleaded with them.

Mal remembered what Zoe had said only minutes before, and that still applied now, despite all the craziness.

"Zoe, remember what you's telling me on the bridge just a moment ago. If it was anyone else"?

Zoe looked back at him like he was crazy, for once logic seemingly abandoning her.

"Sir, there's no way anyone could..."

"We never found the body, and I'm sure Wash here has a perfectly good excuse as to why he's kept himself a secret for the past month".

"Sir..."

"No sir's Zoe, for once I'm the one thinkin' with his head screwed on tight, so don't make me order you to stand down".

"Yes, sir". The stoic warrior said as she took her weapon back and walked away.

After a moment of awkward silence, Wash spoke up.

"That went well". Wash muttered dejectedly.

"That it did, now I wasn't joking about that explanation". Mal said as he crossed his arms.

"I will, just not here Mal". Wash said in the same dejected voice, Mal simply gazed at him for a moment for answering.

"Alright then, we'll meet in the mess hall after everyone gets done with all the mushy stuff". Mal spun around and walked off, having nothing to say to the pilot for now.

After Mal left, Simon was the first to come up to Wash, looking at his chest with a clinical eye, and then speaking.

"You know Zoe has a point, I don't know of anything that could even have a remote possibility of saving you, much less not leave a scar".

"Well doc, you don't know everything, and I bet I know a thing or two about history now that even that genius sister of yours doesn't know".

"I don't understand". Simon said as he shook his head slightly like he always did when confused.

That was when River gasped. Wash cursed himself for thinking too loudly... again.

"You... you met them"? He shook his slowly, wondering how she knew.

"They're pretty amazing people River, they'll be here in an hour with the captain".

River's eyes diverted to the floor as she began processing all the possibilities and ramifications brought to the table by what little she had gleaned from his mind.

"Whoa, hold on a minute, what the hell are you talking about"? Simon almost demanded, Kaylee took his hand and squeezed it to help calm him down.

"I'm talking about River's history, and how she came into your family".

"You know then"? Simon asked carefully.

"Know what"? Inara asked.

"That I'm not really Simon's sister".

The silence engulfed them again for a brief moment before everyone left in the cargo bay started talking at once, save for River, Jayne, and Wash. Mal had stopped at the top to listen to this new piece of rather interesting info.

"Stop"! River screamed at the top of her lungs. "Will be explained later". River finished quietly. Kaylee left Simon's spot and wrapped River in her arms.

"You're just one big mystery aren't you"? Kaylee whispered in the psychic's ear.

"So it seems". River answered back.

For the first time since this whole thing began, Jayne spoke up.

"Uh, are we gonna meet Mal back in mess, or just stand here yappin' all day".

"Jayne"! Kaylee said with a reproachful voice.

"No, he's right, there are things that need to be explained". River said as she began walking towards the stairs. The rest followed after a few seconds except Wash and Jayne.

"We better get going" Wash said a little somberly.

To his surprise, Jayne slapped him on the back.

"Good to see that you ain't all corpsified, conversin' on this ship was gettin' borin' without ya".

"Glad to know someone appreciates me".

His only answer was Jayne's grunt as they walked toward the mess hall.

* * *

A minute or so later, everyone had taken a spot at the table except Wash who chose to stand. Mal had managed to convince Zoe to listen to what he had to say before making anymore rash decisions.

Wash was standing in the same place Simon had nine months previously, with everyone giving hims similar looks they had given him.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road". Mal started off. "I think we should start with the biggest elephant in the room... how the hell are you still alive"? His voice was raised during the last half of the sentence.

Wash shifted his feet under Mal's intense stare.

"I was saved... with this". He pulled a silver metal sphere the size of a large jawbreaker out of his pocket and held it out in his hand.

Everyone stared at the sphere and then back at Wash, all eyes filled with skepticism.

"So is that the bit of wizardry Wash, cause to me it looks like metal ball". Sarcasm was almost dripping from his mouth.

Wash simply chuckled a little before he looked directly at the sphere and spoke to it.

"Show 'em".

The ball's surface rippled as it became liquid once more. Wash set it down on the table and stepped back.

"Watch".

Everyone watched with curiosity at the ball rippled, and everyone gasped when it's shape began to change.

Three seconds later the crew of Serenity were staring at a 4 inch tall T-Rex that roared and stomped around.

"What the hell..." Mal managed to get out before the dino quit moving and transformed back into a metal ball.

"It's called Mimetic Poly Alloy".

"Say what"? Jayne said as he scratched his head.

"Nano machines immersed in metal alloy mixture". River said as she stared at the ball with fascination.

"Amazing, the medical applications..." Simon said as he examined the sphere, but trailed off as he realized what he just confirmed.

"Simon, are you tellin' me that it's possible that... that liquid metal thingy resurrected my pilot"? Mal asked while pointing his thumb at Wash.

"It's more than possible Captain, I can confirm it if we look at it under a microscope".

"I think I'll take your word for it". Mal said quickly, not wanting to hear a bunch of techno-babble. "But it does scare me that the Alliance has this kind of tech".

Zoe wasn't quite convinced yet, and she wasn't going to show otherwise until she was 100% sure.

"Simon, give him a full physical, make sure he's not made out of the material". Her voice was calm and collected as always, but those in the room who knew her best detected a hopeful undertone.

"Listen"! River said a little forcefully, she was tired of Zoe's doubt. "I know fake from real". River pointed her finger at Wash. "Real".

Zoe stared at River for only a second, but to her that second felt like a minute. She took in River's determined, serious look and realized that her doubt was completely irrational at this point. As she let herself believe that this truly was her husband in front of her, the emotional barriers around her heart crumbled like the walls of Jericho. Zoe rose slowly and walked over to him, she could tell he was getting nervous, she was too.

When she stood only inches away, Zoe slowly raised a shaky hand to his face.

"Baby"? She whispered so softly that only he could here.

"It's me lamby-toes". He stroked her cheek with his thumb, a gesture she leaned into as she touched every part of his face with her hands.

"Don't you ever do that again". Zoe said with a mock angry tone, but there was a loving smile on her face.

"Well... I can only promise that if my warrior woman gives me something in return ". Wash's voice was sultry and low, Zoe smiled as the pleasing tones hit her ears.

"And what might that be dearest"? Her tone just as husky.

"I want her to kiss me like there's no tomorrow".

"I can accept those terms..." Zoe smiled again and kissed her husband with a feverish passion.

Meanwhile the rest of the crew smiled at the reunion, but were simultaneously embarrassed by intruding on such an intimate moment, except River anyway, that kind of privacy meant little to a psychic.

When the two broke apart, Zoe grabbed her husband by the shirt and dragged him off, Mal had to cover his face by this point, it had gotten too darn awkward for him.

"Well, I don't expect to be hearin' from them for a good long while". Mal said while rubbing the back of his neck. "In the mean time we better prepare for our guests".

Everyone got up to do their own thing while contemplating what had been revealed thus far, all except River that was. She stood up and circled the table slowly until her arms were in reach of the liquid metal sphere. River slowly picked it up and caressed it in her hands, silently gazing at it with wide brown eyes filled with wonder and awe.

Mal watched her for a moment before speaking to her. He had questions about something said between Wash and her in the cargo bay, and he wanted the answers before the rest of the welcoming party arrived.

"Now River, who are these people coming here to my fine ship"?

River already knew what he was going to ask, but she still hesitated when she did.

"I don't know, but once upon a time, they were my parents".

"Your real parents"?

"No, adopted me, just like you". She said with a small smile on her lips. Mal's lips quirked a bit, but didn't comment on it further.

"What about this ship, what else did you find out about it"?

"Faster than light".

Mal's eyes widened when she said that.

"Excuse me"? He almost squeaked. "Are you said that the Alliance has FTL"?

"Yes, has since before you were born, but only one is currently commissioned, pieces not easily made".

"Top secret I'm guessin'"?

She nodded once, but before Mal could ask another question, she interrupted him.

"Let them explain". And with that she walked off to think.

Mal watched her walk away, not happy at being cut off, but he decided to just make another cup of coffee like he planned before all this craziness started.

* * *

One hour later...

John Connor, Cameron, Patrick (T-1000), and Captain Pudong were on their way to the Firefly transport called Serenity.

The first three had been waiting for this moment for a month now, and now it was at hand.

John turned to his fiance' who looked slightly nervous.

"Cam, you ready for this"?

She turned her head towards him, her eyes showing how she felt.

"Are you"? She countered instead.

John nodded solemnly.

"I'm ready". Patrick said in monotone, not showing any emotion on his face, but he was slightly anxious at meeting her and how she would react to him.

"You three better be, were almost there". Pudong added with a hint of amusement in his voice.

John let out a breath as the lift stopped and subsequently opened, revealing the corridor and the airlock beyond. He slipped his hand into Cameron's and shared a brief kiss before the group walked towards the door...

* * *

Mal told the crew that he would be the one to greet them, no one else would be there. Wash and Zoe had yet to make a reappearance, but he figured his pilot would fill Zoe in anyway.

Mal had closed the airlock doors earlier to be on the safe side, never knew when an accident could happen, and now he was just waiting for the knock.

He was deeply curious about these adoptive parents of River's, where they came from, why they gave her up, and how they're involved with this whole ressurectin' thing.

As such thoughts ran through his mind, he almost missed the buzzing sound coming from the airlock.

Mal uncrossed his arms and walked to the control panel and opened inner doors. He went through and unlocked the door on the outer airlock. He pulled the heavy door aside and turned to greet his guests.

What met his eyes surely wasn't what he expected.

In front of the group was a man he easily identified as the Captain, and strangely enough, he was the least interesting out of the group.

The man to the right was a man who screamed military, but not in the traditional sense, he seemed more like the operative, minus the infuriating smirk. He was also dressed in a strange style of what he guessed to be military fatigues. His blue eyes were calculating, but not devoid of emotion, just restrained.

When he looked to the captain's left he nearly had a heart attack.

Standing next to a young man who had a nasty scar and short brown hair, was... River?

No, the cheeks were not as filled out, her hair was styled and not tangled, her chocolate brown eyes held a presence that was not River.

This was a woman who simply looked exactly like her, only older. She too had calculating eyes that were observing him, but also contained that restrained emotion swimming underneath.

Mal almost jumped when the Captain spoke.

"Captain Reynolds, I'm Captain Peter Pudong of the _I.A.V.X. Sol _". Pudong stuck his hand out for Mal too shake, who actually shook his hand absentmindedly as his stare returned to Cameron for a moment.

Mal finally broke out of his shock and greeted him back.

"I can tell that your curious as to who these people are, and I must say their story is one that hard to believe without proof".

"I guessed as much, but you learn to live with strange with River Tam running around".

He noticed the others tense a little at the mention of her name, something he took note of. Mal then walked over to the man with brown hair and blue eyes standing stoically to Pudong's right.

"You know my name, what might yours be"?

"Patrick, Captain Reynolds, I was the one who resurrected your pilot".

"Much obliged". He said after shaking the man's unusually cold hand. Mal moved over to River's look-alike.

"Now I'm more than a might curious about you, considerin' how you look and all". He said with his arms crossed, he was a little suspicious of her.

"I understand Captain, Wash was too, but to explain why is something that needs to be told to all of them".

"Alright, and what do I call Ms..."?

"Cameron".

"Ms. Cameron, and now you..." He turned towards John. "Who are you"?

"My name is John Connor, Captain, I'm Cameron's fiance'. We took care of River when she was younger, it's a long story". Mal glared at him momentarily for knowing what he was going to ask, but moved on without a beat.

"You look a hell of a lot like a soldier, but yous too you to fought in the war. How old are you"?

"Seventeen, though I feel older".

"I know how ya feel". Mal didn't seem too surprised by his age, nor did he judge him because of it, he had never done so with River, so why with an obviously battle hardened man who just happened to be 17?

"Captain". Pudong said as he stared up at the crosswalk. Mal looked at him momentarily before following his line of sight.

Up on the metal crosswalk was River Tam, looking down with wide eyed fascination at the group who had moved in, but she was most enraptured by the T-1000 and Cameron. She couldn't quite read their minds, but she could feel their souls as they radiated their life force, a type of life she had never felt before since she had become a psychic.

Her feet began moving towards the stairs, but her gaze never left that of the group, and their's never left her.

However, the machine that looked like her, (She knew, and was beyond fascinated at this point), began walking toward her. Her matching brown eyes held a mixture of emotions, but River could not feel them like she could a human's because of her nature.

River finally stepped onto the cold floor of the cargo bay with Cameron only a foot or so from her. Her soulful eyes gazed at Cameron's face as emotions began to reflect not only in her eyes, but her face as well.

Cameron's eyes began to fill with silver tears as River slowly raised her hands to the face that nearly mirrored her own.

As the young psychic's fingers brushed the skin that wasn't skin with her finger tips, she felt a powerful stream of thoughts, emotions, and memories flow through her at a dizzying pace.

She gasped and closed her eyes as she cupped Cameron's face with both her hands.

_Mission... Terminate John Connor, Leader of the Resistance..._

_Heat... Explosion... PAIN as wires cross and electricity shorts... PLEASE END IT._

_And then oblivion's sweet embrace..._

_REACTIVATE... Mission... Protect John Connor_

_Learning, Fascination, Defeat Skynet, Protect the General..._

_War won, Skynet gone... _

_Time travel, must save John in the PAST!_

_1999, Red Valley New Mexico, USA, EARTH!_

_Meets John Reese, not the John She knew... wait SHE?_

_Cromartie ruins pink shirt..._

_Meeting SARAH CONNOR, legend of the future._

_Escape... 2007, new life, new purpose, kill Skynet before it's born._

_Get John a cake, EXPLOSION, oblivion comes unwelcome... John in danger..._

_MALFUNCTION MALFUNCTION... KILL JOHN CONNOR... NOOOOO!_

_Oblivion once, no, Twice more._

_Trust, John trust's her with HIS life_

**_TERMINATION OVERRIDE_**

_Moving to new house... Greenway... things are different now._

_No Mission no purpose... only a sensation she cant yet describe, she must protect John..._

_RILEY: THREAT_

_ALLISON RIVER YOUNG! I'm sorry..._

_HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY PURPLE JACKET!_

_Cromartie once more, and then never more_

_John doesn't want her, found lipstick on his neck... RILEY_

_Three dots... IS SARAH CRAZY?_

_No, HK proves her right... might be too late..._

_Arm twitches, kills birds, repairs not working... must find a way to end it..._

_MY life in your hands John._

_Jesse Flores... Derek... Riley... _

_John figured it out, just like he always does, not that man yet._

_DEREK dead, Charley DEAD, Now Sarah in Jail and T-1001 needs her to save her SON_

_JOHN HENRY..._

_John knew, confronts... KISS! LOVE... But she must leave, and he knows..._

_T-900, probability of escape... 15%_

_Unknown machine... dark chrome... glowing blue_

_no more T-900... only ANNIKA_

* * *

River's eyes opened when she felt the connection break, Cameron had her hands in hers, but away from her face.

River was amazed by what she saw, felt, from this machine's mind... no not machine... _person. _Just as much of one as she, despite their dark pasts.

"So much more than a machine". River whispered loud enough so that only Cameron can hear.

Upon hearing her voice for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Cameron let the tears fall down her face as she cried.

She closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame and sorrow as the silent tears fell to the floor. Cameron let go of River's hands, and River pulled her into a hug instead. Cameron embraced the girl and laid her head on her shoulder.

River didn't know all of what happened quite yet, but she figured that Cameron felt guilty for doing something that ended up with her being adopted into the Tam family, and subsequently being enrolled into the Academy.

"Not your fault Mama, didn't hurt me, only protected me".

"No I didn't". Cameron's distressed voice said barely above a whisper.

"You couldn't have stopped them Cam". John said as he put a hand on Cameron's shoulder. "We didn't exist, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine, I forgot to disable the time machine, I was too slow in stopping the machine from transmitting our intel. No one's to blame but me".

Cameron and River let go of one another and turned to John who immediately gave Cameron a kiss while wiping away her tears.

When they broke apart, John turned to the girl who was nearly his age at this point, she was wearing a rather baggy sun dress, her hair was tangled, but her face broke out in a smile as her eyes took him in.

In truth, she was seen more than his physical form, she was seeing bits and pieces of his life that he spent with her and Cameron, what ever was coming to forefront in his mind.

"John". River said softly to the young man who had suffered nearly as much as she.

Despite her voice sounding just like Cameron and Allison, it sounded different to him. Cameron's voice was soft, smooth, and usually monotone while Allison's voice was often playful and teasing.

River's voice held a underlying wisdom and understanding that reminded him of John Henry, but a tiredness he understood all too well. She had been through hell, and then insanity.

It pleased him to see that she was not anymore.

"River". He walked right up and stood toe to toe with her. "I'm glad your safe". He cupped her cheek and she smiled softly.

"I'm glad your safe too, I remember everything". She stepped forward and embraced her rescuer in a hug.

When they stepped apart John held her at arms length and took a good look at her.

"Hard to believe you were a baby a month ago".

She gave him you think your funny but you ain't look.

"Alright, we got people waitin' upstairs, reunions can wait". Mal said with a straight face, but he really was uncomfortable with these situations.

"Yes Captain Tightpants". River deadpanned causing the group to laugh. Mal just glared at her and climbed the stairs, muttering about how people need to respect his authority more on his gorram boat.

"Well, here goes nothing". John said as took hold of Cameron's hand and put an arm around River as he followed Captain Reynolds.

The T-1000 lingered back a little, deciding that his reunion with the girl could wait until there wasn't as many people running around.

* * *

**Well... What did you think people?**

**If there was any chapter to review, this is the one. I want to know how well the Serenity Crew are portrayed.**

**If you think someone needs improvement, tell me.**

**Thanks for all for reading!**


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